Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 551: Arrogant?
"General Yan, you have worked hard recently! You also saw through the evil plan of the Chu bandits... It seems that it is God who has taught General Yan and I to accomplish this great feat!" Zhang Ren was very .
Zhang Ren is already in his thirties this year, but he still looks like he is only in his twenties. His facial features are quite handsome, very much like Zhao Yun's style. However, in comparison, he is a bit more ruthless and not as elegant as Zhao Yun.
Calculate...
Tong Yuan's aesthetic taste changed for some reason only when he accepted his second disciple.
"Don't tease me, Gongyi. It's embarrassing that it took me so many days to realize that the other side was just an empty shell!" Yan Yan said embarrassedly.
Before Zhang Ren arrived, Yan Yan had already learned that the main force of Chu State in Badong County had left.
The reason why Zhang Ren was able to come to Jiangzhou was the result of the joint efforts of many civil and military talents, including Zhang Ren, Yan Yan, and Zhang Song in the Shuhou Mansion.
After all, it is not easy to convince Liu Zhang to take such a risky move!
Zhang Song persuaded Liu Zhang for a long time, and finally made his logic clear...
Although the rebellion of the southern barbarians at this time was a thorn in Xichuan's side, in essence, it was still just a "branch" of the rebellion in the State of Chu.
Now that the Han Dynasty is about to take action against Hanzhong, Xichuan will then be connected with the Han forces, and the Chu State naturally does not want to see this. At this time, the place that Chu State has chosen to "break the deadlock" is Xichuan - this is what Zhang Song had judged before, but... combined with the current situation, it is obvious that his judgment is flawed.
After all, Zhang Song could not have imagined that the Chu State would actually send down divine troops directly to Hanzhong.
Under the persuasion and advice of Zhang Song and others, Liu Zhang finally made up his mind to temporarily abandon the several counties in the south that were in chaos, and even gave up half of Qianwei County to the southern barbarians for the chaos, leaving only a part of the garrison to defend Jiangyang, and transferred most of Zhang Ren's main forces to Ba County to support Jiangzhou...
Even if Jianwei County was lost, as long as Badong could be recaptured, there would be another chance to "keep the Chu bandits outside Wu Gorge."
As for the southern border, even if there is chaos for a while, it is just some barbarians. Once the auxiliary Han forces are united, they can be slowly taken back, and... we can also take advantage of the situation to wipe out the local clans that are causing chaos and establish a new order!
It was the latter clause that convinced Wu Yi's important officials who were secretly thinking about the interests of Southern Xinjiang - that is to say... after regaining Southern Xinjiang, it would be easier for them to reap the benefits!
Zhang Ren's trip was finally carried out.
On the one hand, he handed over the remaining troops to some generals including Meng Da - there could be chaos in southern Xinjiang, but the chaos had to be controlled south of the Lu River.
On the other hand, he rushed to Jiangzhou, preparing to cooperate with Yan Yan to launch a surprise attack on the flank of the Chu army...
However, before he could rush over, Yan Yan had already discovered that the Chu army was preparing to "secretly cross Chencang" - the military camp on the east bank of the Yanjiang River, with only three thousand people here bluffing!
After being discovered by Yan Yan, the bluffing Chu army retreated back to Zhi County.
Yan Yan and Zhang Ren also had some speculations about the movements of the departing main force. After the news was passed back to Chengdu, Zhang Song and others did not think that the Shu army's "secret crossing of Chencang" had failed.
After all, the most difficult step in the original plan was to conquer Badong County...
Even if Zhang Ren and Yan Yan joined forces and concentrated half of the elite troops of Shu County and almost all of the elite troops of Ba County, they would have nearly 80,000 troops without any deception, which far outnumbered the more than 20,000 defenders in Badong. However, it was still unknown whether they could capture Badong as they wished.
Even if we are more pessimistic, it is very likely that the Shu army's strategy will succeed, but in terms of hard power, they will be outnumbered and outnumbered, which will mean they will lose both their lives and the situation.
Unfortunately, Zhang Song’s suggestion to continue to increase troops in Chengdu was directly rejected by Wu Yi and others - the remaining troops were the source of their sense of security!
The probability of being directly defeated by a smaller force is not very high. After all, Zhang Ren and Yan Yan are not just useless people.
However, it is very likely that the two sides will be held back by the Chu army and face a tough battle in Badong County.
However, now Zhao Yun has left with the Wancheng 1st Division of more than 10,000 people, and only the Badong 1st Division is left in Badong County - they recruit manpower locally in Badong, and use the deputies of the Wancheng 1st Division and the Xinye 1st Division to piece together the framework of the war generals. The organization is not complete, and now it is only a ragtag army of 7,000 to 8,000 people!
In this way, Yan Yan and Zhang Ren will be able to win if they join forces...
But Yan Yan's judgment of Zhang Song was very heartbreaking - I can conquer this by myself, okay? There is no need for Zhang Ren to come as well, okay?
Sensing Yan Yan's emotions, Zhang Ren advised him in a serious tone, "General Yan, don't be careless. After all, the Chu State has assembled a group of naval forces in Jiangling. If they support Badong, it will cause great harm. We must recapture Baidi and Kuimen before the Chu State reacts!"
Yan Yan nodded slowly after hearing this and said, "That's right. Only by retaking Kuimen as soon as possible and driving the Chu army out of Badong can Xichuan have enough room to advance and retreat in the chaos..."
According to the ideas of the Xichuan civil and military officials who were loyal to the Marquis of Shu, even if the Chu State intervened in Hanzhong now, the Han Dynasty would still have a greater chance of winning.
After all, only more than 10,000 people went from the State of Chu, and they might not be on the same page with Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, especially... it is very likely that the State of Chu would not have time to rescue in time!
Even if he could survive, he would most likely just reunite with Zhang Lu, withdraw from Hanzhong, and survive in the Bazhong area.
No matter what the outcome of the Battle of Hanzhong is, as long as the Marquis of Shu captures Badong, Xichuan can become an iron plate again.
If the Han Dynasty wins a great victory in Hanzhong, it can cut off the expeditionary Chu army's return route and wait for an opportunity to retake Bazhong, thereby increasing its voice in the Han court in the future. If the Chu State really succeeds in rescuing Zhang Lu, causing the war in Hanzhong to continue, and retaking Xichuan in Badong, it can also have enough room to advance and retreat and avoid being involved in the war.
After Zhang Ren and Yan Yan met up, they gathered their troops and headed for Zhi County...
Not long after, they learned a piece of news that surprised the two of them - the generals left behind by the Chu State had actually begun to deploy defenses around Zhi County, and they even... had no intention of clearing the fields and defending the city. It seemed that they wanted to stop the Shu army in the wild!
Zhang Ren and Yan Yan were also shocked at the Chu general's "bravery but lack of strategy".
It was originally thought that under such a great disadvantage, the Chu army would retreat to Linjiang, which is relatively easier to defend and difficult to attack.
Unexpectedly, the remaining Chu general was so arrogant that he directly set up his battle line in Zhi County!
"Guo Huai... This man is a member of the Guo family from Bingzhou who ranked second in the military category and was admitted to the Privy Council during the first imperial examination in Chu. Ha, now it seems that the imperial examination in Chu is simply ridiculous. They actually used such an arrogant and careless person as a general... I wonder if my junior brother did not make proper arrangements before leaving, or if this young general was arrogant and acted on his own." After receiving the report from the scout, Zhang Ren shook his head contemptuously.
Yan Yan also smiled and said, "But it's good news for us. If we can destroy the main force of the Chu army in Badong in Zhi County, it will be much easier afterwards!"
