At the same time that Li Wen took action, Liu Gu and Ma Wei had also started moving.
After a heated discussion, they agreed that Li Wen's main force would attack from the Lianyun Plank Road and the Qishan Ancient Road. The Praiseworthy Road was also one of the possible routes. The least likely ones were the Luogu Road and Meridian Valley.
The terrain of the Luogu Road was too steep. It was fine for caravans, but a large group of people was simply asking for trouble. Who knew how many people would die.
Meridian Valley was the same. It was not easy to travel, and if they were blocked, they wouldn't even know how to escape.
Thus, Ma Wei sent people to renovate Baocheng.
Baocheng was a place that the Praiseworthy Road and Lianyun Plank Road had to pass through. To the north of Baocheng were the Tiger Head Pass and the Chicken Head Pass. These two passes were important and needed to be defended.
Ma Wei sent people to set up the cannons in the army, preparing to use the advantage of the Zhennan Army's firepower to block Li Wen's army.
As for the enemy that might come from the Qishan Ancient Road, they needed to set up defenses at Lueyang, Yangping Pass, and Mian County. Lueyang could be given up for a while, with the goal of luring the enemy in. Yangping Pass needed to be heavily defended, and Mian County could not be lost.
Ma Wei and Liu Gu both agreed to give up some of the less important places and not go too deep into the northwestern part of Hanzhong. Instead, they chose to station near the dangerous terrain near Hanzhong.
This way, they could reduce the dispersion of their forces and prevent the already small army from splitting up again, increasing the risk of being defeated one by one.
Secondly, they could reduce food wastage. Although they had a lot of food on hand, it wasn't to the point where they could wantonly waste it.
Thirdly, they could lengthen Li Wen's supply line and increase the pressure on his transportation. This would speed up the depletion of limited food supplies and manpower.
Regardless of the gains and losses of a city or a pond, they only cared about the final battle and annihilation of the enemy. They had to make full use of the Sichuan army and the Zhennan Army's combat advantage in the rugged mountainous terrain through constant defense and mobile warfare, negating Li Wen's advantage in numbers and maximizing their chances of victory.
Moreover, the ratio of firearms in the Zhennan Army was very high. Nowadays, firearms were more suitable for defensive battles than field battles. The endless supply of cannons and musket bullets was very suitable for defense.
In comparison, the number of firearms under Li Wen's command was much smaller. Most of them were cavalry and field infantry. In the mountains, it was obvious that Liu Gu and Ma Wei's troops had a greater advantage.
While Ma Wei and Liu Gu were busy strengthening the defenses of the military strongholds around Hanzhong, on the 28th day of the tenth lunar month, Deng Zilong arrived at Hanzhong with 20,000 soldiers and joined the battle that was destined to be a large-scale one.
It was obvious that Deng Zilong wasn't here for nothing. Although he was here under the guise of delivering food, who would need twenty thousand elite soldiers to escort their food?
He must have smelled the scent and come to ask for benefits.
Of course, he really did reap the benefits.
If it wasn't for the fact that the enemy they were facing was too strong, Liu Gu and Ma Wei really wouldn't be willing to share the credit with Deng Zilong. However, Deng Zilong had already come. He even brought 20,000 elite soldiers and Xiao Ruxun's warrant that allowed him to go north. Moreover, he was also an expert in mountainous warfare. The two of them thought it over and decided to let him join!
It just so happened that they were lacking soldiers. After Deng Zilong's 20,000 soldiers joined, Xiao Ruxun's army in Hanzhong had a total of 60,000 soldiers. With 60,000 soldiers against the border army under Li Wen's command, they were clearly more confident than when they had 40,000 soldiers.
When Deng Zilong found out that there was going to be a huge battle here, he was also very happy. He had finally caught the last train.
"Marshal Xiao's side is progressing very smoothly. They are almost at Wuchang Prefecture. As long as they take down Wuchang Prefecture, the army will follow the Yangtze River to Nanjing and rendezvous with the Nanjing navy. Will Yangzhou be a problem? Yangzhou will soon be taken down, and Shen Yicheng will not be far from death. "
Deng Zilong told Liu Gu and Ma Wei the latest information he knew. Liu Gu and Ma Wei looked at each other and also realized that their preparations had caught the last train. Otherwise, they really wouldn't be able to get the biggest piece of meat.
The three of them immediately entered into a state of collusion. They discussed how to use more professional methods to kill Li Wen.
At this moment, Li Wen still didn't know the specific situation in Hanzhong. He didn't know that Hanzhong's defense had been strengthened again.
He hurriedly dispatched the Ningxia army to meet up with Du Tong in Guyuan in five days. Thus, on the 2nd of November, the Ningxia army finally arrived at Guyuan under Niu Bingzhong's leadership. They met up with Du Tong's troops. The main force had a total of 70,000 soldiers.
Li Wen heaved a sigh of relief when the main force was formed.
Li Wen immediately inspected the army and arranged for some necessary supplies to be distributed. Then, he ordered Du Tong and Niu Bingzhong to prepare and let them split into two groups. Du Tong would go to Tianshui and attack Hanzhong via the Qishan road. Niu Bingzhong would personally lead him south to Baoji and go straight to Hanzhong via the Lianyun Plank Road to face the rebel army.
At the same time, he once again ordered Li Ruzhang to not go to Xi 'an, but to directly lead the army to Mei County and enter Hanzhong via the Baoxie road. He also ordered Xi' an to speed up the transportation of provisions to Mei County for Li Ruzhang's use. At the same time, he also wanted to find out the route as soon as possible.
On the 5th of November, after Li Wen organized Niu Bingzhong's troops, he ordered the whole army to set off. Du Tong led 30,000 troops to Tianshui, while Li Wen directly led 40,000 troops to Baoji, preparing to go south via the Lianyun Plank Road.
At the same time, Li Ruzhang led the army to Sanshui. After sending out scouts, Li Ruzhang ordered the army not to move forward for the time being and to rest for a day.
Du Song, the deputy commander-in-chief, expressed his puzzlement.
"Commander-In-Chief, the governor wants us to arrive at Mei County before the 8th of November to prepare to attack Shu. Now we are still a distance away. If we stop and don't move forward, we may delay the journey. When the governor asks, how should we answer?"
Li Ruzhang looked at the drizzling rain outside.
"It's raining and the road is muddy. It's difficult for us to walk. We have no choice but to delay by a day or two. Isn't that fine?"
Du Song's head was full of question marks. Looking at the drizzling rain outside, he felt that it should not be to the point where they couldn't march.
"Commander-In-Chief, it's not to the point where we can't march, right? If the governor asks … "
"Just say that the weather is cold and many soldiers are sick. We have no choice but to slow down and treat those soldiers. That's why we are delayed. Is that okay?"
Li Ruzhang looked at Du Song impatiently.
Du Song finally understood. Li Ruzhang did not want to march because of the cold or the rain, but purely because he didn't want to march.
Was he afraid to fight?
No, when he was guarding Yulin Town, Li Ruzhang was also very brave in battle. He was not weak on the battlefield. How could he be afraid to fight?
Then why?
Du Song couldn't help but ask Li Ruzhang.
"Commander-In-Chief, why don't you march?"
Li Ruzhang looked at Du Song, a pure general whose head was full of fighting, and sighed helplessly.
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