Liu Bei smiled hoarsely: "It seems that he has forgotten Yide and Meng Qi. Their partial force will give Cao Cao a headache, so he asked the two military advisers to mobilize troops and generals to put the pressure on Yangping Pass as soon as possible. Zhang He could not resist and would definitely attack Cao Cao.

Asking for help."

"Yi De has learned the essence of martial arts. Cao Cao's thief is just right to have a headache. If he wins the first battle, let the whole army rest for two days, and then go to pretend to attack Yangping Pass on time the day after tomorrow. If Cao thief is anxious, he will definitely cause chaos." Pang Tong calmed down and calmed down.

.

"By the way, where did Song Chen go?"

When Liu Bei and Pang Tong mentioned Zhang Fei, they suddenly remembered Song Chen who was the messenger. He originally followed the Chinese army, but he had not been seen since yesterday.

Pang Tong explained: "Yesterday, Zhang He was defeated and retreated. I asked him to mix in and follow the defeated troops."

"What? This is too dangerous." Liu Bei was a little surprised.

"This is Colonel Song's request, because those followers are still in Nanzheng, and he wants to go back and bring them back." Pang Tong spread his hands to express his helplessness.

"He is indeed a loyal man." Liu Bei sighed.

"Those followers also came from the army and have a friendship with Captain Song, so I can only help him. Maybe they will help the lord defeat Cao Cao." Pang Tong comforted.

Liu Bei nodded, "Song Chen is very smart and should be able to escape unscathed, but unfortunately he is going to Nanzheng. Wouldn't it be great to follow Zhang He to Yangping Pass?"

"My lord is really..." Pang Tong and Fazheng looked at each other and smiled.

Since it was a feint attack that forced Cao Cao to come, Liu Bei ordered Fazheng, Wu Yi, and Huang Quan to guard the Dingjunshan camp, while he personally led the troops to advance from Zouma Valley to Yangping Pass in the northwest.

After Zhang He and Du Xi led the remaining troops back to Yangping Pass, they learned that Xiahou Yuan had been killed in the battle. The generals at Dingjun Mountain were horrified. They were leaderless and didn't know how to respond. News came back that Liu Bei had led a mighty army.

After discussing with Du Xi, Guo Huai jointly recommended Zhang He, the bandit general, as acting governor, and asked him to lead Cao's army at Yangping Pass to resist Liu Bei.

Although Zhang He suffered many defeats, his cautious personality was able to escape every time, which was in sharp contrast to Xia Houyuan's radical personality. Xia Houyuan's defeat and death actually set off Zhang He.

Zhang He bravely accepted the hot potato. He clasped his fists and said to the generals in Guan Nei: "Thanks to everyone's trust, I will temporarily take over the post of governor. I will wait until King Wei arrives to make further calculations. Now Liu Bei has come to take advantage of the victory. Our army is now

And if the soldiers have no fighting spirit, can the generals have a strategy to retreat from the enemy?"

As soon as Zhang He finished speaking, the generals in the army whispered, thinking that Liu Bei was powerful and it was better to hold on if he was outnumbered.

Du Xi, the Prince-in-law, had a worried look on his face: "Although it is safe to stick to Yangping Pass, the grain road to Nanzheng will be cut off from now on. If Wudu cannot transport grain to us, the grain cutoff in the pass will become a dead end. I heard that Zhang Fei, Ma Chao still

General Zilian may not have enough energy to cause chaos..."

Zhang He frowned: "Liu Bei did not cross the river elsewhere, but chose to cross the river near Yangping. Maybe he was worried that if he crossed the river early, Xu Gongming (Xu Huang) would intercept the grain road from behind. How about Chen Bing intercepting it on the north bank?"

All the generals were silent after hearing this. At this time, Guo Huai admonished him and said: "Liu Bei came in a hurry without a boat, so he must have temporarily cut down wood to build a ship. If our army and Chen Bing are showing weakness in the north, it is better to be far away from the river and lure them."

Liu Bei's arrogant soldiers crossed the Mian River, and then attacked him halfway across the river, and they were able to break it."

Du Xi also affirmed: "In this way, Gongming (Xu Huang) can transport grain from the north of Mian River, thus ensuring the supply problem of Yangping Pass. Even if he cannot defeat Liu Bei directly, he will still win as long as he waits until King Wei arrives."

"Bo Ji's words are very good." Zhang He nodded frequently.

Liu Beibing arrived at the south bank of Mianshui River. Since he did not prepare a boat to cross the river, he sent people into the mountains to cut down trees and then made rafts on the riverside.

Zhang He heard this and sent Guo Huai and his troops to lure him in a small boat. Unfortunately, Pang Tong and Fazheng had already seen through Guo Huai's plan. Liu Bei's army was actually just pretending to be on the south bank.

Guo Huai's attempts to seduce him failed, so he returned to camp to report the situation to Zhang He, saying that Liu Bei was focused on building ships and was not deceived.

Zhang He frowned after hearing this: "What exactly does Liu Bei mean? It's just a battle across the river. There is no need to build large warships, right? He regards Mianshui as the Yangtze River?"

"Liu Bei's Pang Tong, Fazheng, was very resourceful. Perhaps he saw through Bo Ji (Guo Huai) and attacked him halfway across the river. Perhaps he wanted to build a warship and land together?" Du Xi guessed.

"It doesn't matter whether Liu Bei saw it through or not. As long as he doesn't cross the river, it will be beneficial to our army. Maybe the King of Wei has received the news and sent troops now. As long as we can delay the arrival of reinforcements, no matter how Pang Tong or Fa Zheng is, it's not worth mentioning.

"Guo Huai snorted coldly.

Zhang He could not understand Liu Bei's intention, so he could only tell Guo Huai: "Boji is on the lookout on the Mianshui River. Once Liu Bei's army is ready to cross the river, he will immediately notify the north bank with an order flag. He must not be allowed to land easily."

"Wei." Guo Huai nodded.

Liu Bei's army spent all day logging and building ships. Although there was a lot of fanfare, the actual shipbuilding progress was very slow. Zhang He mistakenly thought that Liu Bei was up to something, so he asked Guo Huai to monitor him day and night. His strange behavior made Cao Jun in Yangping energetic.

The pressure is huge.

At the end of December in the 23rd year of Jian'an, the news of Xia Houyuan's death in battle reached Chang'an. Cao Cao, who was warming himself in the gentle countryside, turned over after hearing the news and cursed Xia Houyuan as "General Baidi".

Sima Yi stayed in Yecheng to assist the crown prince Cao Pi, and the middle official Jia Xu was in the rear due to illness. Only the marching commander Shi Liu Ye followed Cao Cao to Chang'an.

Cao Cao summoned Liu Ye and told him: "Miaocai died in the battle at Dingjun Mountain. Now it is very urgent for Liu Bei to attack Yangping Pass. I must send troops to reinforce immediately. Ziyang (Liu Ye) goes to make preparations as soon as possible. We can set off as soon as possible."

Liu Ye said with a troubled look on his face: "It's cold and freezing at this time, the slopes are slippery and difficult to navigate, and the food and grass deployment in the rear is not in place. There are already places where people are working hard and rebelling. It may be detrimental to rush the troops at this time..."

Cao Cao frowned and said in a deep voice: "How could I not know that the timing is wrong? However, if we don't reinforce Hanzhong, Liu Bei will gain it. How can we let this mat weaver and shoe seller succeed? Nanyang Houyin rebelled and had his own son Xiao (Cao Ren)

Go flat."

"Uh... Hanzhong is short of military rations. If the army and the ration team walk together on the Baoxie Road, the march may be slowed down..." Liu Ye said worriedly.

Cao Cao hammered his forehead, then said with empty eyes: "Then give up Baoxie Road to the grain team, and we will lead the army to bypass Chencang Road. I will write to Yuan Chang (Zhong Yao) later and ask him to send the military supplies

Everything is ready, you have to leave someone in Chang'an to take care of you."

"Wei." Liu Ye nodded in response.

Liu Ye still had no confidence whether Zhong Yao could collect the food and military supplies. After all, after the deaths of Xun Yu and Xun You, Cao's army's supply lines in various theaters had been tight.

"In addition, I sent an order to Zi Lian (Cao Hong) and Zi Dan (Cao Zhen), asking them to send troops from Wudu to Yangping quickly. Zhang He and Guo Huai were so anxious in the letter that it was already precarious to come to Yangping Pass." Cao Cao continued to order.

"Zhang Fei, Ma Chao often causes trouble in Wudu. If the Wudu garrison leaves..."
Chapter completed!