The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 214 Zhuge Liang in Control of Everything

After seeing Ma Chao off, Liu Bei turned around and looked at the map again, staring at the enemy and friendly forces on the map. He said, "Now our main force is facing off against the Wei army on the front. Xi Zhen and Xi Hong are stationed at Shanggui, blocking the narrow pass of Chencang, cutting off Zhang He's idea of ​​retreating from Weishui to Chencang. Cheng Ji and Feng Xi have also occupied the Xiangwu-Xuandao line in Zhang County, cutting off Zhang He's connection with You Chu, the governor of Longxi. Zhang He is practically half-encircled by you."

“Now that Ma Chao has gone to Jincheng, if our third brother arrives at Jieting as scheduled, our encirclement of Zhang He will be completely complete.”

Even Liu Bei, with his temperament, couldn't help but feel excited at this point. Surrounding 50,000 elite Wei troops was something he had never dared to imagine before.

But now, by some twist of fate, they have surrounded Zhang He's 50,000-strong army near Ji County, making Liu Bei feel as if he were dreaming.

This is so damn unreal!

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but pour cold water on the idea, saying, "Although the encirclement has been formed, it won't be easy to wipe out Zhang He's 50,000 troops. We need to be prepared to lose our back teeth."

Those were 50,000 elite Wei troops, whose combat strength was even stronger than that of the Han army. It would be impossible to annihilate such an enemy army without paying a price. In the end, it would definitely be a situation where the enemy would suffer a thousand casualties and the enemy would suffer eight hundred casualties.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei felt a toothache and sighed, "Yes, if we could just keep dragging this out until Zhang He runs out of supplies, that would be great."

The most direct manifestation of the encirclement was that it cut off Zhang He's food supply. Zhang He could no longer obtain food from the surrounding counties or even Guanzhong, and could only sit and wait until his reserves were depleted.

Liu Bei was certain that Zhang He wouldn't have much food with him; it would only last a month or two at most.

The problem is that Zhang Fei didn't carry much food either, and he also had no source of supplies. Moreover, Zhang Fei had even less food than Zhang He. If he really used the strategy of stalling, it's uncertain whether he could wear Zhang He down, but Zhang Fei would definitely be worn down to death.

Therefore, no matter how unwilling Liu Bei was, he had to launch a general offensive as soon as possible to achieve a quick victory and deliver the grain to Zhang Fei.

As for casualties, how can there be no deaths in war?

Seeing that Zhuge Liang didn't respond, Liu Bei knew he was laughing at his naivety. He awkwardly touched his nose and chuckled, "Strategist, just tell me how to fight."

Zhuge Liang waved his fan and said, "Naturally, we should first take advantage of the gap when Zhang Da is contacting the three generals to spread rumors and damage the morale of the Wei army, and then..."

At this point, the tone shifted, and instead of answering, the king asked, "Zhang He must have received news of the Three Generals' attack and has sent troops to strengthen the defenses at Jieting. If Your Majesty knew that Zhang He was surrounded, how would he break out of this predicament?"

Liu Bei's expression changed slightly. He had been thinking about how to attack, but he had overlooked Zhang He's reaction.

Zhang Fei hasn't arrived yet, and the encirclement hasn't been formed, so Zhang He still has a chance to break the deadlock.

Moreover, as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, Zhang He couldn't possibly do nothing and quietly wait to die in his camp when he knew he was surrounded. Even a cornered beast will fight, let alone Zhang He and Sima Yi.

But how will Zhang He and Sima Yi deal with the current crisis?

Liu Bei realized his thoughts were a bit muddled, so he decided to just throw caution to the wind and said, "The strategist must have an idea, so just tell me directly."

Zhuge Liang rolled his eyes subtly, waved his feather fan, and said, "Zhang He doesn't have many options at the moment. The best way is naturally to retreat. Quickly retreat back to Jieting and into the Longshan Road. Then send people to guard Jieting to prevent our attack, while we attack from the east and west with the Guanzhong garrison, trapping the three generals in the Longshan Road."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei's expression changed drastically, and he said with trembling teeth, "This is impossible! If Zhang He does this, it's tantamount to handing over Longxi to us. Wouldn't that be difficult to explain to Cao Cao later?"

If Zhang He truly chooses to avoid battle and retreat to Jieting as Zhuge Liang predicted, then Zhang Fei, who has entered the Longshan Road, will be in danger.

Zhang He was a renowned general of his time; surely he wouldn't be so cowardly?

Zhuge Liang said, "This is the best way for Zhang He to escape. Moreover, if we can take the heads of the three generals and Huang Quan and Wei Yan, even if we lose Longxi, it won't be a loss."

"The problem is that defeating the three generals is easy, but killing or capturing them alive is very difficult. After the defeat, the three generals can simply hide in the Qinling Mountains, and Zhang He will be helpless."

"You must understand that the mountains in the north are different from those in the south. They are neither complex and varied with towering cliffs that reach into the clouds, nor dense vegetation that makes it impossible to find a foothold, nor deadly snakes, insects, and rodents. If the three generals had abandoned the army and fled on their own, they could have easily crossed the mountains and ridges to reach Longxi and join us. We lost Longxi without taking the heads of the three generals, Huang Quan, and Wei Yan. Zhang He and Sima Yi may not be able to bear the responsibility for this."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei breathed a slight sigh of relief and continued to ask, "What will Zhang He do if he doesn't withdraw his troops?"

Zhuge Liang said, "There are two options: lead the army westward to Jincheng to temporarily avoid our advance, then quickly take control of Jincheng and the four counties of Hexi, and at the same time ask Cao Cao for help. After Cao Cao arrives, we can join forces with him. In that case, we will be the ones caught in the crossfire."

"But there are two major hidden dangers in doing this. First, Jincheng and the four counties of Hexi are sparsely populated and cannot support an army of 50,000. Moreover, the Qiang and Hu people in Hexi do not submit to the control of the Wei army. If Zhang He retreats to Jincheng, he will definitely have to spare some troops to suppress the Qiang and Hu people, which will greatly weaken the strength of the Wei army."

"Secondly, even if reinforcements arrive, we can hold Jieting and block the Wei reinforcements in the Longshan Road, preventing them from joining forces with Zhang He. In this way, the situation will still be very favorable to us."

In other words, while Zhang He's retreat into Jincheng temporarily avoids the Han army's sharp edge, it also increases the distance to reinforcements and puts him in entanglement with the Qiang and Hu tribes, thus weakening the Wei army's strength invisibly.

At that time, the Han army only needs to send a general to guard Jieting and block the Wei army's reinforcements, and then they can turn around and deal with Zhang He with all their might.

Moreover, Zhang He's retreat into Jincheng would inevitably lead to a drop in morale and harassment from the Qiang and Hu tribes, making it increasingly difficult for him to win against the Han army.

Therefore, retreating to Jincheng to temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack is still not the best solution for Zhang He.

Liu Bei pondered, "If it were me, I would never retreat to Jincheng. Since retreating to Jieting to attack my third brother from both sides and retreating to Jincheng to wait for reinforcements are both impossible, we might as well take the initiative to attack and defeat him before he arrives at Jieting, and then turn around to deal with him when he is about to arrive."

Zhuge Liang nodded and said, "That's right. Zhang He has 50,000 troops and is fully capable of launching an attack first. If pushed to the limit, he might really go all out. But Zhang He actually has another option."

Liu Bei asked in surprise, "What?"

Zhuge Liang calmly waved his feather fan and said, "Delay..."

"Zhang He knew that the Third General did not have much food, and he also knew that the Governor of Yongzhou, Zhang Ji, would not disregard his life and death. He would definitely be following behind the Third General. So as long as he held Jieting and dragged it out until the Third General ran out of food or Zhang Ji broke through Dazhen Pass and caught up with the Third General, Zhang He's danger would naturally disappear."

Liu Bei sighed, "Yes, Third Brother's supplies are too little and won't last long. What should we do now?"

Zhuge Liang said, "Continue to shout to demoralize the Wei army, wait for Ma Chao to arrive and Zhang Da to return, and at the same time take precautions to prevent Wei army from launching a surprise attack or offensive. After Zhang Da returns, we will decide whether to launch a general offensive or continue the stalemate based on the situation of the three generals."

Until they receive definite news from Zhang Fei, this is all they can do.