Chapter 94 Eve (Part 2)

After sending away the envoy from Wu, Liu Chan left his ministers to continue discussing the Northern Expedition. The so-called Northern Expedition refers to the military action of Shu after the Wei army retreated. Liu Chan thought for a long time, so he first expressed his views.

The Wei State launched 300,000 troops to invade Sichuan. The army stopped outside Yangping Pass. The side troops Deng Ai are now trapped at Mianzhu Pass. The domestic losses are huge, and two important strongholds, Xiangyang and Fancheng, have been lost. Shouchun in the south is surrounded by the army of the Eastern Wu. In addition to having to bear the supplies of the 300,000 people on the Western Front, the central government also has to resist the invasion of the Eastern Wu. Such a burden will not be able to bear even if the Wei State has been in a long time.

Therefore, Wei will naturally adopt a policy of specializing in defense, first repelling the troops of the Eastern Wu. Otherwise, if there are any mistakes in the border defense, it will be too late.

As Shi Wei said, after Zhong Hui withdrew his troops and then left a heavy army to defend the Western Front. However, the population and army in central Sichuan have been greatly enriched this year. A large amount of supplies were hoarded in various important towns, and based on national strength, it can fully support a large-scale Northern Expedition. The current opportunity and opportunity are hard to get. If you don’t take a try, you may not have such a good opportunity in the future.

After hearing this, the ministers pondered and soon expressed their opinions. What Liu Chan said was the truth, and everyone saw it. Jiangdong was also very sincere. After all, the farthest unit had already reached Shouchun. Moreover, more than 100,000 troops were put into the north, and it was impossible to withdraw troops easily. Therefore, in terms of time, the Han army in Sichuan had enough time to arrange offensives and logistics. However, Fan Jian, Yang Xi, Qiao Zhou and others in the court stayed in Chengdu to handle government affairs, and this matter was still necessary to consult these three people before making decisions.

The Northern Expedition was probably finalized, and capturing Mianzhu and catching Deng Ai was the beginning of the Northern Expedition. Liu Chan and Deng Ai had a grudge against losing their son, so they ordered the three armies to reward a thousand gold medals and grant him the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Houses! After receiving the emperor's decree, the morale was greatly boosted. They just waited for the stone cart from Chengdu to arrive and began to attack Mianzhu.

Deng Ai in Mianzhu Pass was also doing the same thing, inspiring the morale of the army. In front of it were Liu Chan's 30,000 Shu soldiers, and behind it was the retreat cut off by Shu general Pang Hong. Mianzhu had become a dead city, and defending it was just waiting to die. If you want to live, you can only fight for a bloody path.

There were only more than 3,700 Wei soldiers in the city, but fortunately, Shu general Pang Hong's army was not many. However, many of these 3,700 Wei soldiers were injured, and some of them were left to Mianzhu to block the footsteps of the Shu Lord Liu Chan's army. This made him look very stretched.

People have the will to survive, and in order to survive, they can avoid difficulties and fear all difficulties. Deng Ai is the only hope for the Wei army at present. Only by escaping from Sichuan can you have the chance to live. It is the coward who sits and waits for death! Deng Ai keeps instilling the concept of fighting to the death into the army, and the army also sacrifices their lives and shouts loudly with the slogans, which is quite a bit heroic.

So Deng Ai summoned Fan Zhen, the guard general of Mianzhu, and prepared to allocate a thousand troops to stay in Mianzhu to resist Liu Chan. Fan Zhen waved his hand and said, "The general is fighting with the bandits in the field, even if there are soldiers and soldiers, they are extremely precious. The last general is here to defend with danger. The general only needs to leave 700 wounded soldiers!" Seeing Fan Zhen's firm attitude, Deng Ai was grateful and could not speak for a moment.

Seeing that Liu Chan's army was not moving, Deng Ai led 3,000 dead soldiers to bid farewell to Fan Zhen and others and headed to Fucheng again. Fan Zhen arranged the defense work at Mianzhu Pass and was determined to defend.

Since Pang Hong appeared behind Mianzhu Pass, I think Fucheng had been captured by the Shu army. If you go straight to Jiangyou, the supply along the way would be a problem. The supply brought from Mianzhu would definitely not support the return to Yinping Bridge. Therefore, Deng Ai must seize a city and do the supply work in the middle to have hope of escaping back to the north.

Less than twenty miles away from the customs, the Wei army scout replied to Deng Ai. The Shu general Pang Hong stationed a battalion on the side road and gave up the road for the Wei army to pass. Shizan, Tian Xu and others were not happy after hearing this, but then they thought about it and could not guess what the medicine was sold in Pang Hong's gourd.

"What a great master Pang, I'll tell the army to form a formation and move slowly!" Deng Ai said with ease, and his hope for a successful breakthrough could not help but reduce his hope of breaking through a few points.

Pang Hong knew that Shu had few soldiers, and the Wei army was a life-threatening army that could not fight hard. If the main road was set up and blocked the Wei army's way of breaking through, the Wei army would inevitably fight hard, and the few Shu soldiers would inevitably be seriously injured. When the small road was set up, the Wei army soldiers and generals were all about returning home, so they would no longer have the will to fight to the death. In this way, the Shu army could chase after them and fight to gradually eliminate the vitality of the Wei army.

Deng Ai is good at using military intelligence and tricks. Even if he knows the purpose of the Wei army, it is difficult to prevent Deng Ai's plan. Therefore, after Deng Ai entered Sichuan, he won many battles, which made several times the Shu soldiers unable to be used and led by him. However, the lonely army is an isolated army after all. No matter how good it is to fight, the number of people is always limited, and one person will die will be reduced. Therefore, Pang Hong's purpose is not to defeat Deng Ai, but to reduce the number and combat power of Deng Ai's army.

Without replenishing troops and without food and supplies, even if the Wei army makes a fortune in the heart of the river, it would be useless. Holding several times of the troops, it seems to be suspected of being unfair to deal with Deng Ai. However, Deng Ai is good at taking advantage of factors such as the right time, place, and people. Liu Chan's army was separated on the other side of Mianzhu Pass, and the Shu army in Fucheng Jiangyou and other places had only seven or eight thousand people. How can we deal with Deng Ai?

A general like Deng Ai has already mastered his military skills, not a person who can be defeated by a large number of people. It is like Liu Chan's initial desire to defeat Deng Ai in a dignified battle was a delusion. Using all the factors that can be used, he always takes the initiative in his own hands. Even if the other party has a hundred thousand troops who can be led by his nose, what threat will there be? I'm afraid this is what Deng Ai is terrible.

In the camp, Deng Ai commanded the Wei army to line up in a battle line and slowly heading north. Pang Hong couldn't help but secretly praised Deng Ai's god of military use, and his strategy of pursuing the rear was completely failed. If the Shu army followed the Wei army as planned and harassed the Wei army that attacked the rear team, the Wei army would definitely return to fight. This means that the Shu army abandoned its defense and fought against the Wei army in the field. The Shu army would definitely suffer the loss.

Seeing the Wei army brigade walking away, Pang Hong ordered the Shu soldiers to rise up and follow the Wei army from afar. After chasing less than ten miles, the scouts in front came to report that the Wei army would slow down. Pang Hong quickly ordered the army to stop advancing and stand on the spot. He rode on the horse and thought carefully. Pang Hong's eyes shone and ordered the entire army to be on guard.

Deng Ai left behind the rear army to chase Pang Hong. He lies in the path with two thousand men and was waiting for the Shu soldiers to catch up and fight to ambush the Shu army. Unexpectedly, after waiting for a while, the Shu soldiers behind him were gone and the Wei army who had slowed down had moved further and further away. After Deng Ai put away the ambush and the entire army continued to advance, he soon received a scout and reported that Pang Hong's army behind him also chased him.

Along the way, Deng Ai repeatedly designed to annihilate Pang Hong's Shu army, but Pang Hong saw through his own methods several times. Deng Ai used another plan, but he still used the back army as a guise, and personally led 500 dead soldiers to steal back from the small road, intending to attack Pang Hong's army. Unexpectedly, Pang Hong had already been on guard, and more than 2,000 Shu soldiers were on high alert, so Deng Ai had no choice but to give up.

Pang Hong's Shu soldiers were like a tail, and they could not be shaken off no matter how they were. As they got closer and closer to Fucheng, Deng Ai felt heavier. If they could not get rid of Pang Hong, they could not march at full speed. Not to mention the time, they would be even more fatal to encounter the enemy. I didn't expect that there were such a wise man in Sichuan, which was both praising and hating.

After Zhang Wei, the prefect of Guanghan, successfully captured Fucheng and appeased the people in the city, he recruited more than 2,000 young and strong men to join the team. As a result, the defenders of Fucheng had a total of 5,000 people. Going out to fight was not the opponent of the Wei army, but defending the city was enough.

Deng Ai's army came to Fucheng. Seeing that Fucheng was so strict that he did not dare to stay too much, he could only sigh and lead the troops to Jiangyou. After a while, Pang Hong's Shu soldiers also came to Fucheng. Zhang Wei hurriedly took his men out of the city to respond.

The Wei army did not have much supplies, and Dong Jue personally guarded Jiangyoucheng, so it should be foolproof. If the Wei army escaped into the mountains, they would all starve to death within a few days. Therefore, the Wei army must be waiting for an opportunity to seize Fucheng or Jiangyou, so Zhang Wei suggested that he would join Pang Hong's team and continue to pursue Deng Ai and find an opportunity to annihilate the Wei army.

Pang Hong stopped him and said, "Young Master Deng Ai's army, even if you have a strange plan, as long as I am cautious enough to deal with it. Zhang Guanghan might as well lead two thousand people to attack Mianzhu Pass and welcome Your Majesty's army as soon as possible to annihilate the enemy!"

When Zhang Wei heard this, he was very kind, so he led two thousand men to Mianzhu. When he arrived at Mianzhu Pass, he heard the sound of drums on the other side, and the sound of fighting was endless. Zhang Wei looked back and said to the army: "It must be Your Majesty's army to attack the key points. I will help Your Majesty with one armament!" So the command headquarters captured Mianzhu.

There were only 700 wounded soldiers at the end, and it was still acceptable to be a guise, so it was difficult to defend the city. Seeing that the Shu soldiers suddenly launched a large-scale attack, Fan Zhen secretly scolded Liu Chan for being able to challenge him. After Deng Ai left for a few hours, the Shu army actually started a strong attack. In desperation, Fan Zhen led the 700 wounded soldiers and relied on the power of Zhuge's crossbow to barely deal with the attack of the Shu soldiers.

Liu Chan originally intended to wait for the stone cart to be sent to the city before siege. It happened that Fan Changsheng, the leader of the Tianshidao, came to help with the war and spoke to Liu Chan: "It is difficult for the Wei army to defend Mianzhu to advance. If the partial army is left to defend it, Deng Ai's army will rag on the counties, which may be a big problem! It is better to attack the city every day, so that Deng Ai dare not leave this precaution!"

What Fan Changsheng said was quite reasonable and strategically applicable. So Liu Chan ordered Yan Yu to take his men and horses to attack the city. After some temptation, he found that the Wei army on the city seemed to have limited military strength. Yan Yu hurriedly launched a fierce attack. At this time, Zhang Wei's men and horses also rushed to the gate, and Mianzhu Pass was finally captured under the attack on both sides.

The Wei army in the city was old, weak, sick and disabled, died in the siege. Seeing that the situation was over, Wei general Fan Zhen sighed, "Please order to defend the city but the city cannot defend it. I am ashamed of the general! What is the use of such mediocre talents?" So Fan Zhen drew his sword and committed suicide.
Chapter completed!