Liu Qi actually had a plan for the next military action in his mind, but he still asked Gan Ning.

It wasn't for anything else, he just wanted to test Gan Ning's vision.

After all, Liu Qi really wanted to train him as a general, so he naturally paid special attention to him.

But the reason why he wanted to train Gan Ning was because of his reputation in history. Liu Qi still didn't know how much Gan Ning actually had abilities.

After Gan Ning thought about it seriously, he said: "Master Fu, according to Gan's opinion, although Jiangguan and Baidi belong to the same territory of Yizhou, they are dangerous passes between the east of Yizhou and the west of Jingzhou.

I don't know what Fujun will do after he captures Jiangguan, but no matter what, Jiangguan and Baidi cannot be discarded. This is the first pass into Sichuan, but it is also the first pass for Yizhou soldiers to enter Jingzhou.

As long as the emperor sends heavy troops to guard this place, Liu Yan will have to constantly add troops to various passes in the east. Now the troops in Yizhou are limited, and he has to face Hanzhong on one side and Jianwei County on the other.

By garrisoning troops in the east, wouldn't it mean that the defense will be divided into three areas? Even if Liu Yan has great abilities, I'm afraid his life will be difficult."

Liu Qi smiled and said: "In Xingba's opinion, even if I don't continue to march from Jiangguan to Yizhou, as long as I can securely defend Jiangguan, it will be enough to check and balance Liu Yan?"

Gan Ning nodded and said, "That's right. The prince only needs to place 5,000 soldiers and horses at Jiangguan today, and Liu Yan will have to mobilize at least 20,000 Qingqiang to defend the pass. This is a containment!"

Liu Qi and Tai Shici looked at each other, and they both saw recognition in each other's eyes.

Liu Qi nodded appreciatively and praised: "Xingba, tomorrow I would like to ask you to be the vanguard and attack Baidi City for our army first. Are you willing?"

The general who had just surrendered was allowed to lead his troops alone. This cannot be said to be unique, but it is also very rare throughout history.

After all, no matter how good the reasons are, a general who is demoted will still be a general who is demoted.

This is not to say that surrendered generals cannot be trusted, but that once a surrendered general is entrusted with an important task, what should the other generals think?

After all, in any organization, in order to stabilize people's hearts, the leader must pay attention to a first-come, first-served basis. Otherwise, it is easy for his subordinates to complain.

Under the current circumstances, there was only one reason why Liu Qi dared to make the decision to let Gan Ning be the vanguard in the attack on Baidi City.

That was because he was determined to support Gan Ning.

Even a careless person like Gan Ning couldn't help but be stunned at this moment.

After a while, Gan Ning bowed to Liu Qi and said, "Ning is deeply shaken by the letter from the Lord, so he should do his best to repay it."

The matter was basically settled like this. After Gan Ning expressed his gratitude to Liu Qi, he returned to the army and went to find Shen Mi and Lou Fa to discuss the dispatch of troops tomorrow morning.

Taishi Ci accompanied Liu Qi and continued walking on the plain.

"Why did the prince leave the task of attacking Baidi City to Gan Ning tomorrow?" Taishi Ci expressed the question in his mind as he walked away.

Liu Qi did not rush to answer, but asked him: "Ziyi, are you jealous of me?"

Taishi Ci didn't know how to answer for a while.

After a while, he decided to tell the truth to Liu Qi.

Because he was as cunning as Tai Shici, he must have known at this moment that his thoughts could not be hidden from Liu Qi.

"I'm quite jealous." Tai Shici said sincerely.

"Why?"

Taishi Ci's expression was serious: "It's not Ci who was jealous of the emperor for appointing the surrendered general, but it was the emperor who was jealous of the emperor who deliberately made him achieve this feat."

What Taishi Ci said is true.

Now that Jiangguan has been broken, Yan Yong has escaped, and Baidi City hangs alone outside Jiangguan, with no rescue and no morale... To put it bluntly, at this moment, Liu Qi can arbitrarily recruit any person above Qu Junhou from his tent.

Even an officer and his troops can easily capture Baidi City, it just depends on who he gives the credit to.

This is a clear way to give Gan Ning a share of the credit.

Liu Qi showed a satisfied look: "Ziyi will not deceive me. If he succeeds in achieving great success by surrendering a general, others will be jealous of him, but I must use Gan Xingba like this."

Taishi Ciruo understood something and said: "The Lord of the State is acting like this, but he is doing it for the people of Jingzhou to see?"

Liu Qi shook his head solemnly: "No, I did this just to show the people of Yizhou."

Taishi Ci didn't seem to understand it for a moment, but after thinking about it carefully for a long time, he finally realized it.

No wonder.

What Liu Qi did was indeed not for the people of Jingzhou, but for the people of Yizhou.

Anyone who defected from Yizhou to Jingzhou can receive such generous treatment, which is a psychological attack.

This is what Liu Qi wants to show the people of Yizhou.

There is a saying in the world: "Kill the chicken to scare the monkey."

Little do you know that 'feeding chickens can also attract monkeys.'

…

The next day, Gan Ning led 3,000 troops under his command and marched to Baidi City first. Liu Qi sent Huang Zhong and Tai Shici to lead two battalions of soldiers and horses to follow closely behind them to increase their momentum.

After the three thousand soldiers and horses, there are thirty thousand elites.

The defenders of Baidi City were only from the Jiangguan branch, with less than two thousand soldiers.

Facing the Jingzhou Army's momentum, the Shu Army in Baidi City naturally did not dare to fight with it.

Then surrender.

One day later, inside Jiangguan, Liu Qi and Xun You began to discuss the defensive strategy of Jiangguan.

From this moment on, Jiangguan changed from the gateway of Yizhou to the gateway of Zigui.

"Yu Fu and Guan Guan are actually the gates of disaster and fortune in Yizhou. Now both gates are open, and the fortified city is under." Xun You briefly commented.

"How many people should be left to garrison?" Liu Qi asked rhetorically.

"Well..." Xun You had a problem with this.

For the people of Yizhou, the land of Yufu is like a gateway. Like Liu Yan, he should send famous generals like Yan Yong to lead heavy troops to garrison. But for the people of Jingzhou, this place is just a stepping stone, but it can be restored in a short time.

It can't be used, it's still in between.

Liu Qi is going to Hanzhong soon, but he doesn't know whether everything in Hanzhong is going well.

It may not be worthwhile to keep more troops.

But if there are not enough soldiers left, it will be useless.

When I was young, I heard Xun You think about it for a long time and then said: "It's okay to keep seven thousand troops."

Liu Qi couldn't help laughing after hearing this.

In history, Cao Cao left the famous general Zhang Liao behind at the strategic location of Hefei to suppress Soochow... and also left behind seven thousand troops.

Perhaps for the war in this period, the number seven thousand has some unique significance?

"Let's keep three thousand people." Liu Qi decided to cut off half of them.

Xun You felt somewhat uneasy after hearing this: "If there are few people left, we may not be able to achieve great things."

"Not necessarily. As long as you plan properly, it shouldn't be a problem to defend Jiangguan." Liu Qi's words seemed to be quite confident.

When Xun You saw this, he knew that Liu Qi should have a plan, so he respectfully said: "I would like to hear the details."

Liu Qi asked Xun You: "Gongda thinks, why can we win so quickly when we attack Jiangguan?"

Xun You said seriously: "Surprise is one of the reasons."

Liu Qi nodded and said: "Second?"

Xun You turned his head, looked at the surging river water below for a long time on top of Xiongguan, and suddenly said: "It's because of the boat master's victory."

Liu Qi nodded solemnly and said: "Yes, in the Jiangguan area, the dangerous pass of Xiongguan is one of them, but in addition to Xiongguan, there are also water channels. Although the mountain pass is difficult to overcome, if the water channel is breached, the mountain pass will be destroyed."

It’s hard to keep it for long.”

Liu Qi's attack on Jiangguan this time, Huang Zhong and Huang Xu's father and son's attack on the juncture was naturally indispensable.

But the reason why they were able to achieve this great feat was also because the water channel under the pass was attacked by Liu Qi, Taishi Ci, Dian Wei and others, so the water gate was breached, which attracted a large part of the army in the pass to seize the water channel.

As a result, the water channel was not successfully captured, but even the garrison strength at the gate was insufficient.

Under such circumstances, it is now Jingzhou's side to defend Jiangguan, but the situation is basically the same.

However, the Jingzhou army's attack on Jiangguan was a march against the boat. If Shu's army was attacking Jiangguan, it would be eastward.

Therefore, Liu Qi decided to use an iron cable to cross the pass, and outside the iron cable, he leaned against the Yangjiao Mountain to the north and the Nancheng Walled City to the south. He cut the walls on both sides and used ropes as flying bridges to strictly guard the pass.

As for support matters, there is no need to worry.

Although Jiangguan belongs to Shu, geographically speaking, it is actually relatively close to the west of Jingzhou. The most suitable place to serve as the rear area of ​​Jiangguan is Zigui County.

Therefore, as long as the strategy of defending the river is appropriate and the operations and planning are appropriate, it should be a piece of cake for the Jingzhou Army to secure the river pass.

More importantly, the internal situation in Yizhou is relatively chaotic, and Liu Yan does not have enough energy to launch a large-scale assault on Jiangguan.

But who should be entrusted with the task of guarding Jiangguan?

Logically speaking, Liu Yan currently does not have the ability to attack Jiangguan, but nothing can escape the inevitable.

If he really sends troops, who can defend it?

The person left behind does not need to be too capable, because Liu Yan cannot recruit so many elites at the moment... As long as the gatekeeper can carefully implement Liu Qi's method, it will be enough.

After Liu Qi thought carefully, he came up with a suitable candidate.

And this candidate was probably the one Liu Biao wanted him to hone in on.
Chapter completed!