Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 600: The Longxi Mutiny
"Seize the military power? Has Liu Bei awakened?" Bai Tu was also surprised when he saw the news in front of him.
That’s right, just now, an urgent report was sent back from Hanzhong - thanks to the connection with the Han River, Hanzhong is now also included in the range of wireless precise reporting, and the news is almost real-time.
This urgent report was not because Hanzhong suffered any fatal attack, but in fact... in the past half month, Longxi seemed to have given up the advance.
The Qingxu reinforcements led by Guan Yu, after joining forces with the Longyou Xiliang Army, fought several brilliant battles at the Qinling Mountains, the northern barrier of Hanzhong, mainly along the Qishan Road, Chencang Road, and Baoxiade Road.
In short, the Chu army held the old site of Yangping Pass and Baoxiakou, so no one could break in. However, they occasionally engaged in exploratory battles on these three plank roads.
Bai Tu had long seen Guan Yu's abilities. After all, they had worked together for a short period of time in Xuzhou.
What caught Bai Tu's attention even more was that the commander of the Qingxu reinforcements was Guan Yu, and the military advisor was Zhuge Liang!
At the beginning, Bai Tu even had the idea of taking charge personally, but then he thought, whether in history or in novels, Fa Zheng was not inferior to Zhuge Liang at least in terms of military strategy!
Even in history, Fa Zheng was obviously more " professional , but it was a pity that he died early, otherwise the Shu Han would not have had such a miserable start.
Moreover, the Chu army had trench tactics as a backup, so the plan was not implemented...
In the previous few months, the two sides had indeed only fought "wonderfully", and it was far from being possible to say who had the upper hand. If there must be an advantage, it was the advantage of the defending side - after all, from beginning to end, no enemy army had ever set foot in the Hanzhong Basin.
However, this time Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang made big news!
When Ma Teng and Han Sui were preparing to withdraw their troops for the winter, he suddenly attacked and detained the two men, and then forcibly incorporated the Western Liang Army.
The reason for the success was that for a period of time before, Guan Yu, as the commander-in-chief of the reinforcements, worked together with Zhuge Liang and got some advantages over the State of Chu - although not big, it was at least something that the Western Liang Army could not do!
This made Guan Yu the backbone of the Longyou, Qingxu coalition forces, and even the real "commander-in-chief".
Secondly, and more importantly, it was not known whether it was Guan Yu or Zhuge Liang who actually persuaded Ma Chao to participate in the power grab...
As the spiritual leader of the Qiang people, Ma Chao's appeal among the Qiang people was even stronger than that of ordinary Qiang leaders. Once Ma Chao was convinced, most of the obstacles were cleared away.
Of course, from the current perspective, Ma Chao was not directly "persuaded" to surrender to Liu. After Ma Teng and Han Sui were sidelined, Ma Chao took over most of their Western Liang troops. In addition, the Qiang people only obeyed Ma Chao, so he was the biggest beneficiary.
"Even if Ma Chao led this mutiny, the Xiliang army will definitely be unsettled for a while. It's a pity that the planting of that kind of 'cotton' will not be promoted until next year, otherwise we can give them a hard time!" Yu Fan said with regret .
As the Minister of Revenue, Yu Fan naturally knew about "cotton" - the cotton brought back by Gan Ning was trial-planted and seeds were collected this year , and would be officially promoted next year.
If we can have a large number of cotton-padded clothes, our winter combat capabilities will be greatly improved.
However, considering the current temperature in Hanzhong and Longyou, as well as the Chu army's ability to resist the cold, it is better not to attack rashly!
"We must pay close attention to the situation in Guanzhong and Guandong to determine what Liu Bei wants to achieve." Chen Gong said cautiously.
"No, this time I think that the Duke of Qi may not know about it..." Jia Xu rarely raised an objection.
Generally, no one objects to this old guy.
"Could it be that Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang want to depose and enthrone on their own initiative?" Bai Tu did not care about Jia Xu's "opposition", but instead wondered about the basis of Jia Xu's judgment.
"It may not be to depose or enthronize him, but it must be to give the Duke of Qi more say in the 'Han Dynasty' and to better unify the power of the princes who assisted the Han Dynasty! If Liu Bei himself agreed, we should not have only heard of the Longyou mutiny."
The reason for Jia Xu's judgment was very simple. It was not because he believed in Liu Bei's character, but because he felt that if Liu Bei knew it in advance, he should have found an excuse in advance, such as "greeting the new year" to the little emperor, leading troops into the pass, or even "using the excuse of passing through the pass (Sai Hou Yang Feng)".
By then, Longyou and Guandong would be all in his hands. Most importantly, unlike Cao Cao, Liu Bei also had royal family status, and "I heard" that many royal family members even preferred Liu Bei!
As long as Liu Bei led his troops into the court at this time, he would at least be the "Assisting King of Han", right?
Even if Liu Bei really had no intention of becoming emperor, he should not have been without any support in order to revive the Han Dynasty. Otherwise, he should not have done this in Longxi.
The only possibility... is that Liu Bei has no idea at all!
"Your Majesty, I propose... Even if it means exposing some of the Fengwei's spies, we must find out as soon as possible the extent of the tacit understanding between Ma Chao and the Marquis of Qi." Lu Su suggested from another perspective.
No matter what the extent, since it is destined that the State of Chu cannot take advantage of the instability of the people in Longyou to attack, it is destined that this mutiny is not good news for the State of Chu, or... it is more beneficial to Liu Bei!
The lower limit is that Ma Chao and Guan Yu used each other and were in harmony with each other, while the upper limit is that Ma Chao had been intimidated by the kingly and hegemonic aura, or choked by the tears thousands of miles away, and had already bowed down to Liu Bei.
Of course, in reality everyone knows that the most likely scenario is somewhere in between.
However, judging from the current situation, even if Longyou is temporarily destabilized, for the current princes assisting the Han Dynasty, losing some power in exchange for a higher level of integration is definitely a "good thing."
Even as Jia Xu said, Bai Tu also felt that if Liu Bei took advantage of the fight between himself and Cao Cao in Bohai to directly join forces with Guan Yu in Longyou to attack Guanzhong from both sides, it would be the most "profitable" thing to do if the princes who assisted the Han Dynasty were generally weakened, but they were completely integrated into one!
However, Liu Bei obviously would not do so. The matter in Longyou this time should have been decided by Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang on their own.
However, how Liu Bei will react and what Ma Chao is thinking will be the focus of the Chu State's attention in the future.
Seeing that Jia Xu had no intention of speaking, Bai Tu secretly rolled his eyes and took the initiative to ask: "I think we need someone to go to Wancheng to assist General Zhang Xiu. Who do you think can take on this important task?"
Why do you need help?
Although it was not stated explicitly, everyone present could hear that they had to be prepared to dispatch troops from Wancheng at all times - not to attack Saihou, but so that if Liu Bei intended to move westward, the State of Chu would also have to "support" Yang Feng in a timely manner!
Zhang Xiu had no problem leading troops to fight, and he was more than just a vanguard general with strong military power, but he was a little worse at judging the situation.
Jia Xu undoubtedly knew Zhang Xiu better, but given Jia Xu's character, he would never actively recommend anyone to go to Wancheng. After all, Zhang Xiu and he had a deep enough relationship...
