Chapter 2501: Li Mu VS Gao Gao, Yang Guang counsels before the battle
Chapter 2501: Li Mu vs. Gao Gao, Yang Guang gave in before fighting
To be fair, although Liu Yu wanted the three counties of Hanzhong, he still wanted Li Tang as an ally. The reason was naturally that Da Qin was too strong.
Since Liu Yu expelled the Shu clique headed by Chen Ping and took control of the military and political power, he has also been vigorously developing internal affairs and increasing national power as quickly as possible.
The Kingdom of Shu has been known as the land of abundance since ancient times. Its terrain is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the land is fertile. It can be called the most innovative place for those who travel through the farming stream.
The Shu Kingdom has a solid foundation. Under Liu Yu's vigorous governance, the country's national strength has naturally progressed rapidly. However, due to the limited wealth, the development speed is naturally inferior to that of the powerful Qin Dynasty.
How did Daqin, which had no shortage of money, develop?
For internal development, we will explore ourselves, vigorously acquire land, carry out large-scale projects, and develop together among farmers, industry and commerce...
The opening of Hainan Airlines to the outside world opened up the trade routes of various countries in Southeast Asia and made profits by continuously sucking blood from Japan.
Thanks to both internal and external improvements, Great Qin's national power improved at such a rapid rate that it was even slightly inferior to all other countries combined, let alone Shu.
Liu Yu didn't know much about Da Qin in detail, because even if he sent out the most elite spies, the information he could get was still limited. But just this limited information gave him a rough idea of the gap between Shu and Da Qin.
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It was precisely because he knew the gap that Liu Yu felt even more frightened. He also knew that relying solely on his own development, not only would it be impossible to catch up with Qin, but the gap would become wider and wider. The only way was to unite with other forces to fight against Qin.
Li Tang was the most active among the princes in opposing Qin, so in Liu Yu's mind, the importance of Li Tang as an ally was actually higher than that of the three counties of Hanzhong.
Currently, the premise of alliance with Tang Dynasty is that the ruler of Li Tang Dynasty must be Li Shimin.
In Liu Yu's heart, Li Shimin is more important than everyone in Li Tang today.
Only under the rule of Li Shimin could Li Tang pose a threat to the Qin Dynasty and help the Shu Kingdom, and then he would be qualified to become an ally of the Shu Kingdom.
But what is the situation in Tang State now?
Not only is the king Li Shimin dead, but Li Yuanba's whereabouts are also unknown. Yang Jian has surrendered to the Qin Dynasty, leaving only a few defeated soldiers.
In Liu Yu's eyes, the current Tang state was not only unable to help, but might even drag down the Shu state.
And the location of Hanzhong was too important. Once it was captured by Da Qin, Yizhou would lose its northern gate, and Liu Yu didn't like to take risks.
In this case, it would be better to take Hanzhong by yourself, and save the defeated generals of the Tang State from causing more trouble.
Therefore, for Liu Yu now, taking the three counties of Hanzhong is not expansion, but for self-protection.
Within the Shu Kingdom, there were many people who had the same view as Liu Yuyou, including Liu Er, Zhang Ren, Xing Tian, Guan Yu and other generals.
However, Su Qin, the prime minister and military advisor of Shu, seemed to have a completely different view on the annexation of Hanzhong.
Seeing that Liu Yu was so determined to take Hanzhong, Su Qin was silent for a long time and then said: "My lord, are you really determined to take the three counties of Hanzhong?"
Liu Yu didn't even think about it and said decisively: "That's of course. Hanzhong is the gateway to Yizhou. Only with Hanzhong in hand can I sleep soundly.
Moreover, now that Li Shimin is dead and Li Tang has suffered heavy casualties, it is destined to be difficult to keep this treasure land. It is better for me, the Shu Kingdom, to take over it than to fall into the hands of the Qin thieves."
"But what if Li Tang doesn't understand the general situation and doesn't want to hand over the three counties of Hanzhong?"
"Humph, it's not up to them."
After Liu Yu snorted coldly, he sneered and said: "If Li Tang is sensible, I will recognize this ally and leave the three counties of Longxi and Qiang to them.
If you are ignorant, don't blame me for being ruthless and annexing these six counties.
Besides, our army has now entered the border of Hanzhong, and Li Tang is unable to stop it even if he doesn't want to."
"What if my subordinates persuade my lord to give up annexing Hanzhong?"
"What?"
Liu Yu was startled, his eyes full of surprise, he couldn't believe that Su Qin would persuade him to give up such a good opportunity.
If it had been anyone else, Liu Yu would have walked away without even listening to what was said next.
But the person who persuaded him to give up was Su Qin, the think tank who helped him wash away his shame.
Even if Liu Yu didn't like his advice, he would definitely listen to it until the end, because he knew that Su Qin must be doing it for his own good and must have considered more and more comprehensively.
"Military advisor, the three counties of Hanzhong are so easy to get at the moment. You actually persuade me to give up such a good opportunity?" Liu Yu looked in disbelief.
"My lord, although it is easy to take the three counties of Hanzhong, the help to our army after taking them will not be great in Li Tang's hands." Su Qin said unhurriedly.
"What does the military advisor mean by this?
The three counties of Hanzhong, Shangyong and Xincheng have a total population of 600,000 to 700,000.
If our Shu Kingdom can obtain it, it can not only improve the northern defense line, but also increase the population and soldiers, which is the best of both worlds.
Why does the military adviser say that there is no advantage but the greatest benefit?"
Liu Yu looked puzzled again, but Su Qin explained: "My lord, Hanzhong is the place where Li Shimin started, and Li Tang has a deep foundation in Hanzhong.
Therefore, it is easy to extract Hanzhong, but difficult to digest.
Moreover, even if we gain the three counties of Hanzhong, our country's strength will increase, but will it be stronger than Da Qin?
On the contrary, not only will Li Tang be completely lost as an ally, but he will also directly face Da Qin's military front and suffer endless attacks from Da Qin.
Lord, Li Tang is a lesson learned from the past.
The Li Tang Dynasty was so powerful in the past. They killed Yang Jian, destroyed the Western Qiang, defeated Liu Ji, and retreated to the Southern Barbarians.
But what about after being targeted by Da Qin?
Valley deer
In just a few years, not only were the three hundred thousand elite troops wiped out, but they also completely lost the land of Guanzhong.
Although the Shu Kingdom today is strong, it is not much stronger than the Tang Kingdom at its peak. It would be unwise to face the Qin army directly at this time.
It is better to let Li Tang continue to retain Hanzhong and let Li Tang become the barrier before Shu and Qin.
Li Shimin died in Guanzhong, and the hatred between Qin and Tang Dynasties could not be resolved, and they were destined to be enemies.
Wouldn't it be better to not take Hanzhong and let Li Tang be on the front line and fight with Qin to consume both sides, while our country of Shu concentrates on developing and strengthening its national power in the rear?"
Hearing this, Liu Yu fell silent. It was not that he had never thought of this, but he was not optimistic about Li Tang at all, and did not think that Li Tang could keep Hanzhong, so he wanted to occupy Hanzhong directly.
"I already know what the military advisor wants, but have you ever thought about what happens if Li Tang cannot defend Hanzhong?
Once Hanzhong is captured by the Qin Dynasty, it will be a disaster for our country of Shu." Liu Yu said seriously.
Su Qin said: "This is also the biggest risk in not taking Hanzhong, because we don't know whether the Tang State would dare to fight without Li Shimin and Li Yuanba.
However, I believe that the high school is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Although Li and Tang suffered heavy losses, with the support of our army, it should not be a problem to contain Hanzhong.
Although it is safe to capture Hanzhong, using the power of Shu alone to resist Qin in Hanzhong is definitely not as easy as the combined efforts of Shu and Tang to resist Qin.
Please consider the pros and cons, my lord."
Su Qin's words stopped Liu Yu from asking. Although he had thought of this before, he didn't expect it to be so detailed. Now it seems that he really wants to see it.
For the current Shu state, it is safe to win in Hanzhong, and the strength of the Shu state can also rise rapidly, but it is not conducive to the great cause of resisting Qin.
Although there are certain risks in not taking Hanzhong, it is obviously more beneficial to the fight against Qin.
Liu Yu couldn't figure out the pros and cons at the moment, so he had to think about it carefully.
Liu Yu thought about this problem all night and didn't sleep all night, but he still made the decision to go south, so he invited Xu Shu, Wang Lei, Tian Guang and others to discuss it.
Although these people's strategies are not as good as Su Qin's, they can still give Liu Yu some advice.
As a result, in addition to Xu Shu's support for Su Qin, Wang Lei and Tian Guang both advised Liu Yu not to place his hopes on others, but to annex Hanzhong directly.
Just when Liu Yu was hesitant to annex Hanzhong, Li Mu, who entered Liangzhou as a pioneer, also formally fought with the Sui army.
Li Mu led three thousand Feixiong troops, passed through Youfufeng, passed Xiaoguan, and headed towards Wanbei County. However, he was actually trying to confuse the Sui army. The real destination was Anding County.
Before Li Mu entered Liangzhou, he sent a letter through Fei Ge and contacted Ma Chao's troops who were fighting with Sui general Gao Ping in Gaoping County.
Gao Gao was originally on the battlefield in Beidi County, but Yang Guang used a trick and was suddenly transferred to Anding County. Ma Chao was caught off guard and lost a lot of troops. Later, Pang De and Ma Dai led their troops to help, and the three of them joined forces.
, and then he barely blocked Gao Gao.
Gao Gao didn't know that Li Mu was coming. He still believed that Ma Chao was the only opponent. He wanted to defeat Ma Chao as quickly as possible and then returned to Beidi County. However, just when he and Ma Chao were inextricably killed, Li Mu suddenly arrived with his army.
Li Mu's three thousand cavalry, combined with Ma Chao's six thousand infantry cavalry, defeated Gao Gao's seven thousand Xiliang cavalry in one battle and killed Gao Gao's deputy general Gao Zhan.
As for Gao Gao himself, he was also wounded by Ma Chao, Pang De, Ma Dai, Li Maozhen and Hua Xiong, and only led a thousand remaining troops to escape back to Wuwei County.
After Li Mu defeated Gao Gao, he continued to march, disguised himself as Gao Gao's remaining troops, and deceived Gaoping County without spending a single soldier.
After capturing Gaoping County, Li Mu continued to lead his army northward, threatening Sanshui City, the stronghold of the Sui army.
Yang Guang, who was fighting Meng Tian, learned about the fall of Gaoping and the crisis in Sanshui. His confidant was frightened and became a cold man.
Sanshui City is related to the Sui army's food route. Once it is captured, the consequences will be disastrous.
Yang Guang quickly gave an order to the Sanshui garrison, ordering him to defend to the death and not to go to war under any circumstances. He also planned to add 3,000 reinforcements to Sanshui City out of caution.
However, before the reinforcements were sent out, Yang Guang received the news that Li Jing had led an army of 100,000 people and had arrived from Guanzhong, and he was immediately frightened.
The Qin Dynasty originally had an army of 60,000 in Liangzhou. After a battle, although it lost nearly 10,000 soldiers, it still had an army of 50,000.
And this time Li Jing directly brought 100,000 troops, so the total strength of the Qin army in Liangzhou reached 150,000, and they were led by Li Jing, who was less than 100, Gongsun Xuanyuan, Jia Fu, Sun Lingming and other fierce generals.
After the Sui Dynasty conquered the Western Regions, it also implemented elite troops and simplified administration, with only 160,000 soldiers in the country.
Facing the 150,000 well-equipped, high-morale tiger and wolf Qin army, as well as an all-star general lineup, Yang Guang really couldn't muster much confidence, so he quickly summoned Gao Jun, Zu Jue, Cheng Gongying and other think tanks to discuss countermeasures.
All the military advisers of the Sui State knew that they would definitely not be able to defeat them. After all, the Qin State was too powerful and the Sui State alone could not be its opponent.
Just look at what happened to Li Tang.
He, Li Shimin, must be brave enough to dare to challenge Qin in a duel. As a result, Guanzhong fell, all his elite soldiers were lost, and he even died in the battle.
Liangzhou, which was occupied by the Sui State, was already a barren land, and a duel with the Qin State, which had millions of soldiers, was almost looking for death.
If the Sui State wants to confront the Qin Dynasty, it must find allies to share the pressure. However, their die-hard ally Tang State has been completely defeated, and there is no force in Liangzhou that can support the Sui State.
After learning about the fall of Chang'an and the death of Li Shimin in battle, Yang Guang scolded Li Shimin in his heart.
How can you deceive your teammates like this? It’s too deceiving.
The reason why Yang Guang dared to send troops to Guanzhong was because he believed that Li Shimin could hold out until reinforcements arrived, but he never expected that the Tang army would lose the entire Guanzhong before they could hold out for even a month.
Even if Li Shimin died, it would be fine, but he still left such a huge mess. The Qin State now went straight to Liangzhou, and the Sui State directly faced the pressure of the Qin State.
How to solve this?
Only when he truly faced the pressure from the Qin army could Yang Guang realize how much pressure Li Shimin faced.
Yang Guang didn't want to end up like Li Shimin, and the best outcome now was to pay a small price and the Qin and Sui armies stopped fighting.
After some discussion, Yang Guang decisively decided to withdraw his troops and at the same time sent Cheng Gongying as an envoy to sue for peace with Qin.
Of course, Yang Guang did not put all his hopes on the peace talks. Although his army returned to Anding County, he transferred all the troops from the rear to Wuwei County, ready to mobilize the entire country's troops to resist the Qin army if the negotiations failed.