Vol 2 Chapter 2505: Li Mu VS Gao Gao, Yang Guang gave up before fighting

Chapter 2505 Li Mu VS Gao Gao, Yang Guang gave up before fighting

Chapter 2501: Li Mu VS Gao Gao, Yang Guang gave up before fighting

To be fair, although Liu Yu wanted the three counties of Hanzhong, he still wanted Li Tang as an ally. The reason was naturally that Da Qin was too strong.

Since Liu Yu expelled the Shu clique headed by Chen Ping and took control of the military and political power, he has also vigorously developed internal affairs and increased national power as quickly as possible.

Shu has been known as the land of abundance since ancient times. Its terrain is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the land is fertile. It can be called the most innovative place for those who travel through the farming stream.

The Shu Kingdom has a solid foundation. Under Liu Yu's vigorous governance, the country's national strength has naturally improved rapidly. However, due to the limited wealth, the development speed is naturally inferior to that of the powerful Qin Dynasty.

How did Daqin, which had no shortage of money, develop?

 For internal development, we will explore ourselves, vigorously acquire land, and carry out large-scale projects, so that scholars, farmers, industry and commerce can develop together...

  Launched sea navigation to the outside world, opened up trade routes with various countries in Southeast Asia, and made profits by constantly sucking blood from Japan.

With both internal and external improvements, Great Qin's national power has progressed at such a rapid rate that even all other countries combined are slightly inferior, let alone Shu.

Liu Yu didn't know much about Da Qin in detail, because even if he sent out the most elite spies, the information he could get was still limited. But just this limited information gave him a rough idea of ​​the gap between Shu and Da Qin. .

It is precisely because he knew the gap that Liu Yucai felt even more frightened. He also knew that relying on his own development alone, not only would it be impossible to catch up with Qin, but the gap would become wider and wider. The only way was to unite with other forces to fight against Qin.

Li Tang was the most active in opposing Qin among the princes, so in Liu Yu's mind, the importance of Li Tang as an ally was actually higher than that of the three counties of Hanzhong.

 At present, the premise of alliance with Tang Dynasty is that the ruler of Li Tang Dynasty must be Li Shimin.

In Liu Yu's heart, Li Shimin is more important than everyone in Li Tang today.

Li Tang can only pose a threat to the Qin Dynasty and help the Shu Kingdom under the rule of Li Shimin, and then he is qualified to become an ally of the Shu Kingdom.

 But what is the situation in Tang State now?

Not only is the king Li Shimin dead, but Li Yuanba's whereabouts are also unknown. Yang Jian has surrendered to the Qin Dynasty, leaving only a few defeated soldiers.

In Liu Yu's eyes, the current Tang State is not only unable to help, but may actually drag down Shu.

And the location of Hanzhong is too important. Once it is captured by Da Qin, Yizhou will lose its northern gate, and Liu Yu doesn't like to take risks.

 In this case, it is better to take Hanzhong yourself and save the defeated generals of Tang State from causing more trouble.

 So, for Liu Yu now, taking the three counties of Hanzhong is not expansion, but for self-protection.

Within the Shu Kingdom, there were many people who had the same view as Liu Yuyou, including Liu Er, Zhang Ren, Xing Tian, ​​Guan Yu and other generals.

However, Su Qin, the prime minister and military advisor of Shu, seemed to have a completely different view on the annexation of Hanzhong.

Seeing that Liu Yu was so determined to take Hanzhong, Su Qin was silent for a long time and then said, "My lord, are you really determined to take the three counties of Hanzhong?"

Liu Yu didn't even think about it and said decisively: "Of course it is. Hanzhong is the gateway to Yizhou. Only with Hanzhong in hand can I sleep soundly.

Moreover, now that Li Shimin is dead and Li Tang has suffered heavy casualties, it is destined to be difficult to keep this treasure land. It is better for me, the Shu Kingdom, to take over it than to fall into the hands of the Qin thieves. "

“But what if Li Tang doesn’t understand the general situation and doesn’t want to hand over the three counties of Hanzhong?”

 “Humph, it’s not up to them.”

Liu Yu snorted coldly and sneered: "If Li Tang is wise, I will recognize this ally and leave the three counties of Longxi and Qiang to them.

If you are ignorant, don't blame me for being ruthless and annexing these six counties.

Moreover, our army has now entered the border of Hanzhong, and Li Tang is unable to stop it even if he doesn't want to. "

“What if your subordinates persuade your lord to give up the annexation of Hanzhong?”

"What?"

Liu Yu was startled, his eyes full of surprise. He couldn't believe that Su Qin would persuade him to give up such a good opportunity.

If it had been anyone else, Liu Yu would have walked away without even listening to what was said next.

 But the person who persuaded him to give up was Su Qin, the think tank who helped him wash away his shame.

 No matter how unhappy Liu Yu was about his advice, he would definitely hear it until the end, because he knew that Su Qin must be doing it for his own good and must have considered it more comprehensively.

“Military advisor, now the three counties of Hanzhong are so easy to get, so you persuade me to give up such a good opportunity?” Liu Yu looked in disbelief.

"My lord, although it is easy to take the three counties of Hanzhong, the help to our army after taking it is not as great as that in Li Tang's hands." Su Qin said unhurriedly.

“What does the military advisor mean by this?

 The three counties of Hanzhong, Shangyong and Xincheng have a total population of 600,000 to 700,000.

If our Shu Kingdom can obtain it, it can not only improve the northern defense line, but also increase the population and soldiers, which is the best of both worlds.

 Why does the military adviser say that the greatest benefit is always the greatest? "

Liu Yu looked puzzled again, but Su Qin explained: "My lord, Hanzhong is where Li Shimin started his career, and Li Tang has a deep foundation in Hanzhong.

 Therefore, it is easy to extract Hanzhong, but not easy to digest.

Furthermore, even if we get the three counties of Hanzhong, our country's strength will increase, but will it be stronger than Da Qin?

On the contrary, not only will Li Tang be completely lost as an ally, but he will also directly face the Qin army and suffer endless attacks from the Qin Dynasty.

 Master, Li Tang is a lesson learned from the past.

The Li and Tang Dynasties were so powerful in the past. They killed Yang Jian, destroyed the Western Qiang, defeated Liu Ji, and retreated to the Southern Barbarians.

 But what about after being targeted by Da Qin?

In just a few years, not only were the three hundred thousand elite troops wiped out, but they also completely lost the land of Guanzhong. Although the Shu Kingdom today is strong, it is not much stronger than the Tang Kingdom at its peak. It would be unwise to face the Qin army directly at this time.

It is better to let Li Tang continue to retain Hanzhong and let Li Tang become the barrier before Shu and Qin.

Li Shimin died in the battle in Guanzhong. The hatred between Qin and Tang Dynasties could not be resolved, and they were destined to be enemies.

Do not take Hanzhong, let Li Tang top at the front line, and die with Daqin to consume both sides. Isn't it better for the Shu Kingdom to develop in the rear and strengthen the national strength? "

Hearing this, Liu Yu fell silent. It was not that he had never thought of this, but he was not optimistic about Li Tang at all, and did not think that Li Tang could keep Hanzhong, so he wanted to occupy Hanzhong directly.

“I already know the military advisor’s intentions, but have you ever thought about what happens if Li Tang cannot defend Hanzhong?

 Once Hanzhong is captured by the Qin Dynasty, it will be a disaster for our country of Shu. Liu Yu said seriously.

Su Qinze said: "This is also the biggest risk in not taking Hanzhong, because we don't know whether the Tang State would dare to fight without Li Shimin and Li Yuanba.

However, I believe that High School is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Although Li and Tang suffered heavy losses, with the support of our army, it should not be a problem to contain Hanzhong.

Although it is safe to capture Hanzhong, it is definitely not as easy as using Shu and Tang to fight Qin in Hanzhong with the power of Shu alone.

 Let the Lord consider the pros and cons. "

Su Qin's words stopped Liu Yu from asking. Although he had thought of all this before, he didn't expect it to be so detailed. Now it seems that he really wants to see it.

 For the current Shu state, it is safe to win Hanzhong, and the strength of the Shu state can also rise rapidly, but it is not conducive to the great cause of resisting Qin.

Although there are certain risks in not taking Hanzhong, it is obviously more beneficial to the fight against Qin.

 Liu Yu couldn't figure out the pros and cons at the moment, so he had to think about it carefully.

Liu Yu thought about this problem all night and didn't sleep all night. He still made the decision to go south, so he invited Xu Shu, Wang Lei, Tian Guang and others to discuss it.

Although these people's strategies are not as good as Su Qin's, they can still give Liu Yu some advice.

As a result, in addition to Xu Shu's support for Su Qin, Wang Lei and Tian Guang both advised Liu Yu not to place his hopes on others, but to annex Hanzhong directly.

Just when Liu Yu was hesitant to annex Hanzhong, Li Mu, who entered Liangzhou as a pioneer, also formally fought with the Sui army.

Li Mu led three thousand Feixiong troops, passed through Youfufeng, passed Xiaoguan, and headed towards Wanbei County. However, he was actually trying to confuse the Sui army. The real destination was Anding County.

Before Li Mu entered Liangzhou, he sent a message through Fei Ge and contacted Ma Chao's troops who were fighting with Sui General Gao Gao in Gaoping County.

Gao Gao was originally on the battlefield in Beidi County, but Yang Guang used a trick and was suddenly transferred to Anding County. Ma Chao was caught off guard and lost a lot of soldiers and horses. Later, Pang De and Ma Dai led their troops to help, and the three of them joined forces. , and then he barely blocked Gao Gao.

Gao Yuan didn't know that Li Mu was here. He still thought that his opponent was only Ma Chao. He wanted to defeat Ma Chao as quickly as possible, and then returned to the northern county of the army, but did not want to justify the difficulty of killing him and Ma Chao, Li Mu suddenly led the army to rush.

Li Mu's 3,000 cavalry, combined with Ma Chao's 6,000 foot cavalry, defeated Gao Gao's 7,000 Xiliang cavalry in one battle and killed Gao Gao's deputy general Gao Jun.

As for Gao Gao himself, he was jointly wounded by Ma Chao, Pang De, Ma Dai, Li Maozhen and Hua Xiong, and only led a thousand remaining troops to escape back to Wuwei County.

After Li Mu defeated Gao Gao, he continued to march, disguised the remaining troops of Gao Gao in the city, and deceived Gaoping County without spending a single soldier.

After capturing Gaoping County, Li Mu continued to lead his army northward, threatening Sanshui City, the heartland of the Sui army.

Yang Guang, who was fighting Meng Tian, ​​learned about the fall of Gaoping and the crisis of Sanshui. His confidant was frightened and became a cold man.

Sanshui City is related to the Sui army's food route. Once it is captured, the consequences will be disastrous.

Yang Guang quickly gave an order to the Sanshui garrison, ordering him to defend and not go to war under any circumstances. In addition, out of caution, he was also preparing to add 3,000 reinforcements to Sanshui City.

But before the reinforcements were sent out, Yang Guang received news that Li Jing had led an army of 100,000 people and had arrived from Guanzhong, and he was immediately frightened.

The Qin Dynasty originally had an army of 60,000 in Liangzhou. After a battle, although it lost nearly 10,000 soldiers, it still had an army of 50,000.

This time Li Jing directly brought 100,000 troops, so the total strength of the Qin army in Liangzhou reached 150,000, and they were led by Li Jing, who had less than 100 troops, Gongsun Xuanyuan, Jia Fu, Sun Lingming and other fierce generals.

After the Sui Dynasty conquered the Western Regions, it also implemented refined troops and simplified administration, with only 160,000 soldiers in the country.

 Facing the 150,000 well-equipped, high-morale tiger and wolf Qin army, as well as an all-star general lineup, Yang Guang really couldn't build up much confidence, so he quickly summoned Gao Jun, Zu Jue, Cheng Gongying and other think tanks to discuss countermeasures.

All the military advisers of the Sui State knew that they would definitely not be able to defeat them. After all, the Qin State was too strong and the Sui State alone could not be its opponent.

 Just look at Li Tang’s fate.

He, Li Shimin, must have been brave enough to challenge Qin in a one-on-one battle. As a result, Guanzhong fell, and all his elite soldiers and generals were lost, and he even died in the battle.

Liangzhou, which was occupied by the Sui State, was already a barren land. To challenge the Qin State, which had millions of soldiers, in a one-on-one battle, it was almost like seeking death.

If the Sui State wants to confront the Qin Dynasty, it must find allies to share the pressure. However, their die-hard ally Tang State has been completely defeated, and there is no force in Liangzhou that can support the Sui State.

After learning that Chang'an had fallen and Li Shimin had died in battle, Yang Guang scolded Li Shimin in his heart.

How can you deceive your teammates like this? It’s too deceiving.

The reason why Yang Guang dared to send troops to Guanzhong was that Li Shimin could hold out until reinforcements arrived, but he never expected that the Tang army would lose the entire Guanzhong before they could hold out for even a month.

Li Shimin died, but he still left such a mess. The Qin State now went straight to Liangzhou, and the Sui State directly faced the pressure of the Qin State.

 How to solve this?

Only when he truly faced the pressure from the Qin army could Yang Guang realize how much pressure Li Shimin faced.

Yang Guang doesn't want to end up like Li Shimin, and the best outcome now is to pay a small price and the Qin and Sui armies stop fighting.

 After some deliberation, Yang Guang decisively decided to withdraw his troops and at the same time sent Cheng Gongying as an envoy to seek peace with Da Qin.

Of course, Yang Guang did not put all his hopes on the peace talks. Although his army returned to Anding County, he transferred all the troops from the rear to Wuwei County, ready to mobilize the entire country's troops to resist the Qin army if the negotiations failed. Preparations for invasion.

 (End of this chapter)