When Liu Zhang personally led his army towards Fujie County, he understood why it took so long for Taishi Ci to divide the counties.
It's really too far.
Wuyang County is nearly 600 miles away from Fujie County!
This does not include Nanguang County which is further away!
Liu Zhang's men were all infantry, and even without siege equipment, it still took him half a month to reach Fujie County!
It was October, the weather was getting colder, and Liu Zhang became a little anxious.
Time is really running out, winter is coming in a blink of an eye!
Once the weather gets cold, Liu Zhang's offensive will be severely frustrated, and he may have to retreat and wait until the next spring to attack again.
If you go through all this trouble, it will cause a serious blow to morale and waste too much manpower and material resources.
Although Liu Zhang had just acquired two counties and his strength had increased significantly, he would never allow such a waste of limited resources.
But there is always a road ahead, and good news fell from the sky!
The destruction of Jia Long and Ren Qi had frightened Zhao Wei, and Liu Zhang's three-pronged advance completely frightened Zhao Wei.
Half a month ago, Zhao Wei had abandoned all the cities and gathered all his troops, food, grass, and materials in Jiangzhou, preparing to rely on Jiancheng to fight Liu Zhang for a life-or-death showdown!
After receiving the news, Liu Zhang made a decisive decision. He ordered all his soldiers and horses to rush to Jiangzhou without caring about resting his soldiers.
Without encountering any obstacles along the way, Liu Zhang led his army directly to Jiangzhou City, where Xun You and Zheng Du had already set up their camp and were waiting for Liu Zhang's arrival.
"Greetings, my lord!"
Liu Zhang quickly stepped forward and helped the two of them up one by one.
"Gongda, unknown, I didn't expect you two to move so quickly!"
Liu Zhang did not expect that Xun You and Zheng Du would be so fast, and they actually reached Jiangzhou one step ahead of him.
"My lord, with his clever calculations, conquered two counties one after another! We really admire him!"
"Congratulations, lord!"
Xun You and Zheng Du had already heard about Liu Zhang's plan to annihilate Jia Long and Ren Qi, and were full of praise for Liu Zhang's outsmarting the two counties.
"Haha, not bad, not bad!"
The design of Jia Long and Ren Qi this time was entirely by Liu Zhang, and now he feels that he deserves the praise of the two military advisors.
Several people behind Xun You and Zheng Du came forward and bowed their hands to Liu Zhang.
"I'll wait to see my lord!"
Liu Zhang looked around and saw that they were Zhang Liao, Zhang Ren and Wu Yi.
“No gifts, well done!”
Zhang Liao and the others were recognized by Liu Zhang, and their faces were filled with smiles.
"Where are Xu Huang and Wu Lan?"
There was also Wu Lan in Langzhong who led 5,000 men, and there was also Xu Huang and his 10,000 Han men in Bazhong who were setting up camp.
Not seeing the two of them at this time, Liu Zhang couldn't help but have some doubts in his mind.
"Please tell me in your lord's account."
"good!"
It was inappropriate for tens of thousands of people to stand at the camp gate. Zhao Yun and other generals arranged for soldiers to enter the camp, while Xun You led Liu Zhang into the Chinese army commander's tent.
"Lord, I arranged for Xu Huang to lead the Han Xingying camp to Zhi County."
Liu Zhang looked at the map beside him and found the location of Zhi County.
Zhixian County is the dividing line in the eastern part of Bajun. If you want to enter Jingzhou along the Yangtze River, Zhixian County is the only way.
"Gongda, have you sent Xu Huang to conquer the counties in Badong?"
"no."
"What's the purpose of asking Xu Huang to go to Zhi County?"
There are also five counties in the Badong area, especially Yufu, the east gate of Sichuan and Shu, which is also the Baidi City where Liu Bei was left alone in history.
Yufu is the eastern gate of Bashu. It controls the Yangtze River waterway and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If you occupy Yufu first, you can effectively contain all enemy forces in Jingzhou.
Liu Zhang originally thought that Xun You was worried that Liu Biao of Jingzhou had ideas about the land of Bajun, so he asked Xu Huang to occupy the dangerous position first.
"My lord, there is more than just Zhao Wei in Ba County."
Liu Zhang slapped his forehead and understood immediately.
There are three forces in Bajun, the Zhao family, the Huang family and the Yan family!
In the past, the three families fought and fought fiercely in Bajun. But later, for unknown reasons, the internal fighting in Bajun stopped.
Later, Huang Yin was bribed by Zhao Wei and almost killed Liu Zhang in Langzhong!
"Could it be that the Yan family is stationed in Zhi County?"
Xun You nodded, admiration flashing in his eyes.
"My lord is really smart. The Yan family is stationed in Zhi County and has ten thousand soldiers."
After hearing Xun You's report, Liu Zhang breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems that the strength of the Yan family is not as good as that of the Huang family in Langzhong. At that time, Huang Yin had assembled an army of 20,000 to deal with Liu Zhang.
"What does the Yan family mean? Are they going to fight with Zhao Wei against us?"
"If we attack by force, Xu Huang alone can't take Zhi County, right?"
Liu Zhang was a little anxious and asked two questions in a series.
"My Lord, there is no need to worry. The head of the Yan family has just passed away. They have no intention of fighting with our army at the moment. The new head of the family, Yan Yan, has sent someone to inform Xu Huang. As long as Zhao Wei kills him, Yan Yan will surrender to the city."
"Yan Yan? Head of the Yan family?"
Liu Zhang was a little shocked. He didn't expect Yan Yan's status to be so high!
Xun You was a little confused by Liu Zhang's tone.
"My lord, Yan Yan is nearly 40 years old, and he is the eldest son of the Yan family. There is nothing wrong with him succeeding as the head of the family."
"Well...it doesn't matter, just let Xu Huang keep an eye on Zhi County, and don't easily conflict with the Yan family of Zhi County."
"Don't worry, my lord, I have already told Xu Huang."
In the eyes of most people, the most impressive among the Yizhou generals are Zhang Ren and Yan Yan, and the same is true for Liu Zhang!
Yan Yan is good at martial arts and loyal. Even reckless men like Zhang Fei respect him as a person. He must be a rare general.
There are not many capable people in Yizhou, so Liu Zhang must seize every talent.
At present, Zhao Wei is like a grasshopper after autumn, he can't jump around for a few days. As long as no accident happens, the day when Yan Yan surrenders to the city will not be far away.
"Gongda, how many days have you been in Jiangzhou? Do you have any strategies to defeat the enemy?"
When they heard Liu Zhang asking about strategies to defeat the enemy, Xun You and Zheng Du both frowned.
These two people were thinking hard, but they didn't have any clue.
"My lord, forgive me. The city of Jiangzhou is tall and has the water of the Yangtze River as a moat. If we want to attack by force, the casualties will be huge!"
"Zhao Wei claimed to have gathered an army of 20,000 people and a million stones of food and grass. He also said that he would never give up resistance even if the battle was fought to the last soldier."
Liu Zhang exhaled heavily, anger rising in his heart.
This Zhao Wei is really hateful. He was originally promoted by Liu Yan, but he sat back and watched Zhang Lu rebel.
Now Liu Zhang has successively eliminated Zhang Lu, Jia Long, and Ren Qi. Not only did Zhao Wei have no intention of begging for mercy, but he resisted even more tenaciously!
"It seems that the only way to attack is by force..."
If Zhao Wei couldn't retreat, Liu Zhang could only bear the pain and attack. No matter how many people died, Zhao Wei had to take it.
"Lord, I'm afraid the damage caused by the strong attack is not a small number!"
Zheng Du reminded Liu Zhang in time that he had carefully studied Jiangzhou's city defense and had already predicted the outcome of the storm.
Even if Jiangzhou is captured by force, the casualties caused may be unbearable!
Liu Zhang didn't know this truth, but he had no other choice but to attack by force.
Winter is coming soon, and the cold weather is not conducive to marching. Moreover, Jiangzhou has plenty of food and grass, so we don’t know how long the siege will take!
"Damn Zhao Wei, it seems that he is a bastard who has taken advantage of the weight!"
Dian Wei on the side frowned and looked at Liu Zhang in confusion.