Chapter 2604: Chi You fights against the heroes of Shu Han (Part 1)
Although Liu Yu had made up his mind to send an army of 200,000 troops southward and give priority to Chi You on the southern front, he still needed to make some pre-war preparations.
First of all, the envoys from the Chu and Ming Dynasties and the top officials of hundreds of families are still in Chengdu, so they must at least be sent away first.
Secondly, and most importantly, is the selection of generals for the expedition.
The Southern Barbarian King Chi You was so powerful that only Xing Tian, the most powerful general of the Shu Han Dynasty, could match him, so Xing Tian definitely couldn't miss this battle.
However, Xing Tian alone cannot defeat Chi You for sure. It is best to bring Kong Peng with him. After all, Kong Peng is also one of the top ten masters in the list of fierce generals.
However, the situation on the northern front is not optimistic. If Da Qin launches a battle to invade the city, once Yang Jian, Long Qie and other generals personally participate, Liu Er alone will obviously not be able to stop it.
Therefore, Liu Yu wanted to keep Kong Peng on the northern line, just in case.
But without Kong Peng, Xing Tian alone would not be able to deal with Chi You, let alone Gong Gong and Zhu Rong.
In fact, besides Kong Peng, Liu Yu had another suitable candidate in his mind, and that was Lu Ya, an abandoned disciple of the Yin Yang family and leader of the Sun Sect.
Lu Ya was originally very impressed by the Shu Han's win over, but he managed to escape from the Chu Kingdom halfway.
Lu Xun, the deputy of the Chu envoy Liu Qi, learned that Lu Ya had also come to attend the ceremony and had not yet joined the Shu Kingdom, so he encouraged Liu Qi to contact and win over Lu Ya.
The Jiangdong Lu family is actually Lu Ya's family. It's just that Lu Jun and Taiyi's generation never returned after leaving the family. Lu Ya didn't mention it to Lu Ya after that, and he didn't know what grudges they had, so Lu Ya didn't know about it at all.
I still have other relatives alive.
After learning that he was born into the Lu family, which was extremely powerful in the Chu State, and that both the family and the Chu State valued him, the balance in Lu Ya's heart naturally tilted towards the Chu State.
Liu Yu was naturally anxious when he learned about Chu's poaching behavior. After all, it would be fine if he was an ordinary talent, but Lu Ya was a peerless general no less than Kong Peng.
Losing this top warrior was still a huge loss even for the Shu Kingdom.
So Liu Yu personally took action, greeted Lu Ya and tried to win over him in various ways. Although his behavior moved Lu Ya very much, it also made him more embarrassed.
Frankly speaking, Lu Ya wanted to go to Chu State. After all, the Lu family was in Chu State.
But Liu Yu was so kind to him and so courteous to him that he was embarrassed to refuse Liu Yu.
Liu Yu didn't know the relationship between Lu Ya and the Lu family. After seeing Lu Ya's reaction, he thought he had been influenced.
But at this moment, the Chu State did something that Liu Yu couldn't bear, that is, Liu Qi came into contact with Hou Qing, and Hou Qing did not refuse.
Now Liu Yuke couldn't sit still at all. After all, Hou Qing was his biggest trump card. Once Hou Qing left him, he might not even be able to sleep well.
So is it possible for Hou Qing to leave Shu and join Chu? It's possible, and it's still very possible.
Liu Yu used the problem to solve Liu Bian's problem. Although he did it perfectly and did not leave any evidence, even if Xingtian Wang Yue was deceived, he may not be able to deceive old monsters like Hou Qing.
Several times, Liu Yu noticed that Hou Qing looked at him strangely, with a hint of murderous intent in his dissatisfaction, as if he had guessed what he really wanted.
This shocked Liu Yu so much that he didn't dare to meet the Queen alone, but he had to do so. Liu Yu felt like he was on pins and needles every time he met the Queen.
Liu Yu felt that even if Hou Qing had no evidence, he should have guessed that he was the one who killed Liu Bian. The reason why he remained calm and did not tell anyone else was because he took the overall situation into consideration.
Hou Qing took the overall situation into consideration and did not expose Liu Yu in public. After all, Shu Han needed Liu Yu, but his dissatisfaction with Liu Yu in his heart had reached the point of not concealing it.
It is precisely because of this that Liu Yucai has no doubt that Hou Qing will give up on him and support Liu Xiu of Chu State.
Hou Qing is really important to Shu Han. Once he leaves Shu, Liu Yu will not only not be able to sleep well, but even hundreds of families may not be so obedient.
Therefore, the Chu State poached the Hou Qing, which had already touched Liu Yu's side.
This was no longer a stabbing in the back, but an honest stabbing. How could Liu Yu not be angry?
Chu was the only ally of the Shu Han. Liu Yu had just proclaimed himself emperor, and Liu Xiu, his ally, embarrassed him. Even Shu and Chu were so intrigued, how could they unite other forces to fight against Qin?
At this thought, Liu Yu was a little discouraged, but he quickly cheered up.
Liu Xiu, the weakling, was just a king, so it was understandable that he didn't know the basics. But as the new emperor of the Han Dynasty, he couldn't be as ignorant as Liu Yu.
After much deliberation, Liu Yu decided to have a frank talk with Hou Qing. He must dispel Hou Qing's dissatisfaction with him and allow Hou Qing to continue to stay in Shu.
In this conversation, although Liu Yu failed to resolve Hou Qing's dissatisfaction with him, the two of them could not be considered to have a preliminary heart-to-heart relationship.
Hou Qing promised Liu Yu that he would not leave Shu for other countries until the Shu Han showed obvious signs of defeat, and this was enough for Liu Yu.
But what Liu Yu didn't expect was that he had just taken care of Hou Qing, and Lu Ya had also been taken care of by Lu Xun.
Liu Qi received a letter from Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu promised that as long as Lu Ya came to Chu, he would be named the General of the Northern Expedition and the Grand Administrator of Guiyang. The most important thing was to support the Sun Sect in preaching in Chu.
Liu Xiu's various promises all showed that he attached great importance to Lu Ya, and these promises were quite generous, so it was difficult for Lu Ya not to be tempted.
Finally, under Lu Xun's advice, Lu Ya decided to defect to Chu, but before surrendering to Chu, he was also prepared to help Shu defeat the southern barbarians as a reward for Liu Yu's courtesy.
On the same day, Lu Ya expressed his attitude to Liu Yu, which roughly meant: I'm sorry, you are a good person, but we are not suitable.
Liu Yu was almost in tears after hearing this. He had worked so hard to win over Lu Ya for so long, but in the end, all the fat on his lips was taken advantage of by Liu Xiu.
However, Lu Ya's willingness to help the Shu Han deal with the Southern Barbarians was rewarded, and Liu Yu's efforts were not in vain.
Although Liu Xiu poached Lu Ya, Liu Yu was extremely dissatisfied, but there was nothing he could do about it. Chu was the only ally of Shu Han, not to mention that Chu would also be used to deal with the Southern Barbarians.
When Chu State's envoy Liu Qi and deputy envoy Lu Xun learned that Liu Yu intended to ask Chu State to send troops to attack Nanzhong, they actually had no hope in this idea. After all, it was known to the world that the King of Chu was not interested in barbarian lands.
, and the vengeful Nanman are not easy to offend.
There is no need for the Chu State to offend the Southern Barbarians for the Shu State. Unless the Shu army was defeated in the south this time and was on the verge of subjugation, it is unlikely that the Chu State would send troops to help the Shu State.
Seeing the expressions of Liu Qi and Lu Xun, Liu Yu knew that it would not be easy to mobilize the Chu army, but he still wanted to give it a try, so he sent Zhang Song and the Chu envoy back to Chu to persuade Liu Xiu to send troops.
After that, Liu Yu ordered the three generals Kong Peng, Zhang Yi, and Zhuo Ying to lead the remaining 20,000 elite troops to immediately support Hanzhong if Yangping Pass could not support it.
In fact, in addition to the 250,000 main force and 200,000 new soldiers, there is also a warworthy army in the Shu Han Dynasty, that is, the troops of Longxi King Li Siyuan stationed in two counties in the western part of Han Dynasty.
After the other Li and Tang troops surrendered, they were all incorporated into the Shu army by Liu Yu. After all, after the previous war with Da Qin, the losses of the Shu army were also considerable.
However, the 30,000 Li Tang surrender troops in Li Siyuan's hands were not absorbed by Liu Yu, and this was one of the conditions for his surrender.
This also resulted in Li Siyuan's special status in the Shu Han Dynasty. He was the only prince under the emperor, but he was also a small warlord dependent on the Shu Han Dynasty. Even Liu Yu could not control the two counties in his jurisdiction.
After Liu Yu became emperor, he still respected Li Siyuan as king and did not deprive Li Siyuan of his military power for three reasons:
First, I really can’t find any good opportunities;
Secondly, Li Siyuan's position was very important, and he did not want to force Li Siyuan to rebel;
Third, Li Siyuan was very obedient. Whether it was in combat or otherwise, he would obey orders as long as they were given.
It is precisely because of the above three points that Liu Yu can tolerate Li Siyuan's existence.
Liu Yu did not transfer Li Siyuan to go south this time, mainly because he was worried about an accident in Hanzhong. After all, if Yangping Pass could not hold up, Li Siyuan would take the initiative to support Yangping Pass without Liu Yu's order.
After making all preparations, Liu Xiu personally led an army of 200,000 people south, and the lineup of generals under his command was extremely luxurious, including: Xing Tian, Xia Houying, Xu Shu, Wu Lan, Meng Da, Gao Pei, Ling Bao, Li Keyong,
Xiao Sheng, Shi Jiantang, Shi Kuangyi, Shi Kuanghan, Xiong Fuchu, Xiong Qi, Lu Ya, etc.;
Since Chi You divided his troops into three groups to attack Shu and divided the southern battlefield into three groups, and all three battlefields were in critical condition, Liu Yu also divided the 200,000-strong army into three groups.
The Central Route Army was naturally led by Liu Yu, who led an army of 140,000 troops, as well as generals such as Xing Tian, Lu Ya, and Li Keyong to support Yizhou County.
The Eastern Route Army, with Meng Da as the chief general and Xu Shu as the deputy general, led an army of 30,000 to support Xianggao County.
The West Route Army, with Xia Houying as the chief general and Wu Lan as the deputy general, also led an army of 30,000 to support Yongchang County.
The 200,000-strong army set off, which could be described as a mighty force with banners covering the sky. However, not long after Da Qin set off, another bad news came from the front line.
Chiyou, the king of the Southern Barbarians, adopted Shi Jieren's strategy and used himself as bait to lead an army of 10,000 soldiers deep into the city alone to lure Zhou Bo to ambush him.
Zhou Bo, who was defending Yizhou County, didn't know what the plan was and thought Chi You was arrogant, so he led his army out of the city to ambush him, but Chi You counterattacked and ambushed him.
Later, with a timely reminder from Shen Shiqi, Zhou Bo woke up and realized that he had been tricked. Therefore, he did not fall into the trap, but he could not withdraw. He was forced to lead 40,000 Shu troops and 30,000 Southern Barbarian troops in a field battle.
.
In this battle, the three generals Meng Huo, Meng You, and Yang Feng joined forces to attack Zhang Fei alone, but they were still defeated.
After fifteen rounds of battle between the four generals, Yang Feng was killed by Zhang Fei with a spear. Meng Huo and Meng You were also injured. If Chi You had not arrived in time, they might have died under Zhang Fei's spear.
Zhang Fei challenged Chi You alone, but the gap in strength between the two was too great. Within five rounds of the fight, Zhang Fei was completely at a disadvantage.
Seeing this, Guan Yu rushed to support, but even if Guan and Zhang joined forces, they were still no match for Chi You. Shi Jingtang and other six generals also rushed to support.
But what no one expected was that even if Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Shi Jingtang and other eight generals joined forces, they were still defeated by Chi You. Five generals died in the battle, and three generals, Guan, Zhang Fei, and Shi Jingtang, were injured, but they barely managed to hold Chi You back for a hundred times.
Fifty rounds.
Seeing that the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable, Zhou Bo took advantage of the fact that Chi You was under siege and had no time to command the entire army, so he secretly sent out thousands of elite troops to attack the flanks of the Shu army in a roundabout way, thus barely stabilizing the battle situation.
In the end, the two armies of the South fought fiercely for a whole day, and the winner was still undecided until the sun went down.
Seeing that he could not win for a long time, Chi You could only retreat, but Zhou Bo did not pursue him.
After the war, an inventory was conducted and it was found that the Shu army had lost nearly 10,000 troops and six generals were killed in the battle, including Zhou Bo's eldest son Zhou Sheng, while the Nanman army only lost six to seven thousand troops.
Zhou Bo lost 10,000 troops with 40,000 Shu troops and 30,000 southern kings from Chi You, but only defeated 6,000 Chi You. It was obviously a defeat.
However, he did not fall into Chi You's trap and retained the main force of the Shu army, which was considered a blessing in misfortune.
After the war, Zhou Bo reduced his troops. No matter how provocative Chi You was, he ignored him and refused to leave. At the same time, he asked Liu Yu for help and plead guilty.
Seeing that Zhou Bo was so cautious, Chi You knew that he could not lure him out, and did not want to lose too many troops and horses on Zhou Bo's side, so he ordered Meng Huo, Wu Huo, and Tang Yu to each lead a partial division and begin to raid other counties in Yizhou County.
Those cities that were not guarded by Zhou Bo had most of their troops mobilized, so how could they possibly stop Chi You's army? So either the king of Nan conquered the cities, or he took the initiative to open the city and surrender to Chi You.