After capturing Hanzhong on the 25th of the tenth month, Liu Gu and Ma Wei sent out their troops to attack cities everywhere. Chenggu, Mian, and Bao counties were all captured.
The resistance they encountered during the attack was very weak. After all, the garrison in Hanzhong had already been routed before this. Some of these remote small counties didn't even have two to three hundred soldiers. Facing the Sichuan and Southern Town Army elites who were in a killing frenzy, they didn't have the slightest will to resist.
The important areas of Hanzhong were quickly captured, including a large amount of military provisions. Liu Gu and Ma Wei quickly arranged their troops to occupy all the key military points, and then began to reorganize themselves, arranging for troops to garrison. At the same time, they connected Sichuan, Yunnan, and Myanmar headquarters to strengthen the supply lines.
After Yunnan was captured, Deng Zilong was unwilling to be left out. He did not want to stay in Yunnan to guard the rear, and then only get a small contribution when the big thing finally succeeded. Therefore, in the middle of the ninth month, when Yunnan was more or less pacified, he could not help but request to lead troops north to Sichuan to assist in the attack. Sun Li could not stop him. After asking for permission from Xiao Ruxun, Xiao Ruxun allowed Deng Zilong to go north.
Therefore, Deng Zilong led 20,000 troops north to Sichuan and began to consolidate Liu Gu and Ma Wei's victory along the way. He also picked up some leftovers, which could be considered as a small contribution. However, he was not satisfied and kept following behind Liu Gu and Ma Wei. Although he advanced with all his strength, Ma Wei and Liu Gu's progress was too fast for him to keep up.
When he arrived at Chengdu on the 17th of the tenth month, Chengdu had already been captured. Liu Chengsi, who was temporarily appointed by Tan Xisi to be the commander-in-chief of Sichuan, received Deng Zilong and told him that Ma Wei and Liu Gu had already gone north to attack Hanzhong.
Deng Zilong was very unhappy. He left his deputy to guard Chengdu and forced Liu Chengsi to be his guide all the way north.
While Deng Zilong was hurrying on with his journey, Liu Gu and Ma Wei were discussing the next step of the plan in Hanzhong.
Although the task given to them by Xiao Ruxun was to guard Hanzhong and suppress the troops in the northwest, the two of them agreed that they did not fight to their heart's content after occupying Sichuan. The local officials and troops in Sichuan did not fight with them at all. After a few rounds, they either surrendered or simply avoided the battle. They were very dissatisfied.
Furthermore, they had been victorious all along the way. They were progressing at lightning speed. Now, they were bursting with confidence and wanted to make a big news.
Blindly defending and waiting for the enemy to attack was not their usual style. Neither Liu Dadao nor Ma Jiajiang liked to defend. They both thought of the option of continuing to attack to gain merits, but how exactly they should fight, whether they should really fight, the two of them had not completely decided.
Liu Gu was inclined to take the initiative, while Ma Wei was hesitant.
"Marshal told us to hold on to Hanzhong and not go north. We just need to restrain the troops of the four northwestern towns, but I don't think that's right. We've been fighting smoothly all the way, and our soldiers are sharp. Our morale is at its peak. If we don't continue to fight at this time and stop, won't that be a waste of morale?"
Liu Gu was a staunch advocate of war.
Ma Wei had some doubts about this.
"You're right, but the commander-in-chief's order is an order. If he doesn't allow us to continue to fight north, it's the troops from the four towns. If the troops from the four towns are really mobilized, there will be at least 100,000 of them. We only have 40,000 troops in total. It won't be easy to fight!"
Liu Gu shook his head.
"There are more than 100,000 Sichuan troops, but haven't we still taken them down?"
Ma Wei hurriedly shook his head. "Most of the Sichuan troops are local garrison troops. The troops from the four towns have been fighting with the Northern Barbarians for many years. Their elite troops cannot be compared to the past. If we really fight, they might not be weaker than us. In terms of troops, we don't have the advantage, so we can't hastily come to a conclusion."
Liu Gu pointed at Guyuan Town on the map and said, "Don't tell me we have to wait for the governor of Guyuan's three borders, Li Wen, to mobilize troops from the south to attack us? It's precisely because we have fewer troops that we can't show any fear. We have to take the initiative to attack, and in turn, intimidate Li Wen. Otherwise, if we wait for their troops to press down on our borders, then we can only passively fight? Can you guarantee that those thieves who have surrendered won't take the opportunity to cause trouble behind our backs? "
Ma Wei suddenly felt that what Liu Gu said made sense.
It was precisely because the Zhennan Army had been unstoppable since the start of the northern expedition that those officials and troops who were fence-sitters were intimidated. It was because of such strength that they didn't dare to resist or act against them. However, once they showed fear and were defeated, even if it was just once, it could cause instability in their rear.
They had yet to establish a stable rule in their territory. Sichuan was not their rear, and it could even be said that Yunnan was not their rear either. It was just that the majority of people were watching from the sidelines. Once they came to a conclusion, the situation could be reversed again.
This was probably the reason why the Zhennan Army had to keep attacking north without stopping.
They had to continue to create an invincible image in order to consolidate their current foundation.
More importantly, there was another reason that Liu Gu had mentioned.
"Brother Ma, are you really willing to wait for the Marshal to take down the capital and then directly go to the capital? Do you plan to stop here? Think about it, those who are following the Marshal will undoubtedly have the greatest contributions. When the time comes to the capital, they will also be the first to be rewarded.
They are at the Marshal's side, so they will have the greatest contributions. If we stop here and don't go to the Marshal's side, we won't be able to get as many rewards as they will, and we'll miss out on such a great opportunity! If we take the northwest and Guanzhong and then take the soldiers to the capital to meet up with the Marshal, just how great of a contribution would that be? "
It made sense …
As the commanding general of one of the four major infantry battalions of the Zhennan Army, Ma Wei had obtained the high regard of Xiao Ruxun, allowing him to command an army and take charge of one side of the battlefield. He was confident that his abilities were not lacking, or else Xiao Ruxun would not have valued him so highly.
But if he did not arrive when the capital was conquered and the Marshal was bestowed with great merit, he would not be able to get the first bite of the soup and might even be pushed aside by those who came later.
He did not want to encounter such a situation.
Stop?
Ma Wei thought for a while and felt that he could not stop.
Not only could he not stop, his army could not stop either. The soldiers of the Zhennan Army had to maintain their vigorous fighting spirit. If they stopped and went on the defensive, their morale and fighting spirit would be wasted.
Thus, the two of them wrote a letter to Xiao Ruxun and began to discuss their next step in the attack.
And then, the two of them stared at each other.
How should they fight?
At present, there were only five ways to attack Guanzhong from Hanzhong.
They could either take Mount Qi, take the Chencang Ancient Road, or take the Lianyun Plank Road, or take the Jiaozuo Road. Or they could seek death by taking Luo Valley or Meridian Valley.
None of them would be easy.
Mm, it was true that attacking Longyou and Guanzhong from Hanzhong was not easy at all.
Since ancient times, there had been far too many battles in this region, and all the strategies and tactics that could be used had been used. Battle examples were readily available and not difficult to predict. Thus, compared to schemes, strength was far more important. Hadn't Zhuge Wuhou not been able to carry out his plans even after his death?
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