Gao Shun did not give an answer to whether he would agree to postpone the march, but instead asked Yan Pu to be taken to a side tent to rest. After Yan Pu was taken away, Gao Shun continued to discuss Zhang Lu's peace with Lu Xun and others.
"I wonder what you think of Hanzhong's request for peace." Gao Shun asked everyone.
Gao Shun knew very well that the current situation was imminent and had to be launched. Hanzhong's idea of seeking peace was simply an impossible delusion. The reason why he asked this question was just to start the topic.
"General Gao, if nothing unexpected happens, Hanzhong will be settled soon." After hearing Gao Shun's question, Sima Yi's eyes lit up and he said to him.
"It's just around the corner...Does Zhongda want to persuade Zhang Lu to surrender?" Gao Shun heard this and just thought about it briefly, and quickly understood what Sima Yi meant. Zhang Lu showed his cowardice and sent people to sue for peace. It was his strength.
There is evidence that there is no arrest, and at this time, it is a great opportunity to persuade the other party to surrender.
Zhang Lu does not have a strong character. Although he cannot be called cowardly, he is indeed a bit weak. Now that Zhang Lu wants to seek peace, it can be said that he has taken the lead in surrendering, which means he is afraid of the army he leads.
.In this case, as long as you intimidate it to a certain extent, it is not impossible to persuade the other party to surrender without resorting to war.
"Then Yan Pu will be placed under house arrest in the military camp first, and then the army will march to Yangping Pass to put pressure on Zhang Lu." Gao Shun made a decision.
Although Yangping Pass cannot be compared with dangerous passes such as Hulao Pass, it is also the gateway to Hanzhong and is strong and difficult to attack. If Zhang Lu did not have the threat of Liu Zhang from the south and sent all the Hanzhong defenders to Yangping Pass to resist Cao's offensive, then Gao Shun would have
Even if all these 15,000 people are used up, Yangping Pass may not be guaranteed to be captured.
You must know that these 15,000 men were not sent by Cao Cao to Gao Shun to capture Hanzhong. Gao Shun still needed these 15,000 men to capture the entire Yizhou.
The task assigned by Cao Cao was not easy. Although Gao Shun had a topographic map of Western Shu and Zhang Song was on the Chengdu side as an internal agent, the battle could still be said to be extremely difficult. The roads to Shu were rugged and rugged, as was known to the world, and later Li Bai
There is a saying: "The road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to reach the sky." The difficulties and dangers are evident. In addition, there is no shortage of generals and resourceful people in Shu who are good at fighting. Facing the entire Yizhou, even if sufficient preparations have been made in advance
Preparations must go all out without any slack. Gao Shun has a total of 15,000 men. If more troops are used to attack Hanzhong, then the difficulty of the war will inevitably be higher when facing Yizhou.
If it is increased, it may even lead to a feeling of powerlessness. In that case, the only way is to return without success.
Returning defeated in battle is absolutely not allowed to happen to today's Gao Shun. Although the ancients said that "victory and defeat are commonplace for military strategists," this sentence is more often just a saying. Most of the time, the person who is defeated is defeated.
The generals have nothing to gain. Although with Gao Shun's current status, even if he returns from defeat, he will not be severely punished. At most, he will only be demoted and asked to answer questions. However, Cao Cao's temperament is difficult to determine now, and Gao Shun does not want to accept it.
The possibility of being killed after defeat is less than 1%.
In addition, Gao Shun's current status as General Zhendong was promoted step by step through his accumulation of military exploits. In the process, Gao Shun also developed his self-esteem and pride as a famous general. If he suffered a defeat, even if Cao Cao did not
He should be heavily blamed, but simple accountability is not something Gao Shun's current self-esteem can tolerate. When Li Guang, a famous general in the Western Han Dynasty, was questioned for getting lost, he once said: "You can't punish an official with a sword and pen." Then he committed suicide. This is the truth.
If we can win Hanzhong with zero casualties, that would be the best ending.
With this idea in mind, Gao Shun sent all his 15,000 troops outside the Yangping Pass.
———————————————————————————————— Zhang Lu is in a bad mood now. He sent his chief adviser a few days ago
Yan Pu went to negotiate peace with Cao Jun, but he never thought that there would be no news from Yan Pu after he left. There were even rumors that Yan Pu had been beheaded by Cao Jun to sacrifice the flag.
Various rumors made Zhang Lu panic, although he did not believe that Cao Jun would kill the envoys, not to mention that Yan Pu went to seek peace and not to declare war. Cao Jun did not agree to the peace talks and drove him back to Hanzhong.
Yes, there is no reason to kill him? But as there was no news about Yan Pu, Zhang Lu's worry and panic grew day by day, lest Cao Jun would one day deliver Yan Pu's head to him.
Today, the 15,000 Cao troops displayed outside Yangping Pass made Zhang Lu even more stressed and had trouble sleeping and eating.
When Zhang Lu was worried about the current situation, a waiter informed Cao Jun to send an envoy to see him, and Zhang Lu rushed to invite him in.
The envoy sent by Cao Jun was none other than the deputy military advisor, Sima Yi.
The appearance of Cao Jun's envoy made Zhang Lu feel a little relieved. This at least meant that Yan Pu was not in danger. Otherwise, how could Cao Jun dare to send envoys to his territory?
Yan Pu was Zhang Lu's most trusted adviser and the only talented adviser in Hanzhong City. Losing Yan Pu would be almost equivalent to cutting off Zhang Lu's arm.