While Li Wen was advancing, his route had also been discovered by Ma Wei and Liu Gu's scouts.
As expected, Li Wen personally led his troops through the Chencang Ancient Road and the Lianyun Plank Road, heading straight for Hanzhong. Li Ruzhang led his troops through Mei County to the Baoxian Valley Road, while Du Tong led his troops through the Qishan Ancient Road to attack Hanzhong from the flank, attempting to threaten the Hanzhong garrison's retreat.
Facing such an attack, Ma Wei, Liu Gu, and Deng Zilong were not worried at all. This was very close to what they had expected.
"As expected, Li Wen's route of advance was similar to what we had expected. The Lianyun Plank Road, the Baoxian Valley Road, and the Qishan Ancient Road. Three routes of advance in an attempt to besiege Hanzhong. With this, our defensive posture is even more obvious. Liuba, Hutou Pass, and Jitou Pass are our three lines of defense. The last line of defense is Baocheng. Other than Baocheng, the other three lines of defense can be used to lure the enemy in."
As the chief commander, Ma Wei expressed his opinion.
Deng Zilong and Liu Gu had no objections.
However, Deng Zilong expressed that he was willing to take charge of the defense of Liuba and lead his troops to face Li Wen's main force. He would hand over the defense of Lueyang, Yangping Pass, and Mian County to Liu Gu, while Ma Wei would lead his troops to defend Nanzheng.
Liu Gu expressed his dissatisfaction.
"Old Deng, aren't you being too greedy? Liuba can face Li Wen and Li Ruzhang's troops head-on. With such good terrain, it's like one man holding the pass against ten thousand enemies. Are you thinking of taking everything for yourself? I'll go deal with Du Tong. Du Tong only has a sub-division with 30,000 soldiers at most! "
Deng Zilong sternly said, "If you say it like that, the old man will not be happy. You divided your troops to attack Sichuan and Hanzhong and made such a great contribution, while I stayed in Yunnan. After fighting for a month and idling for half a month, I only made such a small contribution. I haven't told you about this yet!"
Liu Gu shook his head.
"This is a mission arranged by General Xiao. If you're not satisfied, you can talk to him. Don't bother me. I've already discussed it with Brother Ma. I'll be in charge of the north, and he'll be in charge of Yangping Pass. Now that you're here, you'll be in charge of Yangping Pass, and Brother Ma volunteered to defend Nanzheng. What else do you have to say?"
Deng Zilong was immediately dissatisfied.
"Why don't you respect your elders? How old am I? How long do I have left? Can't you just let me make a name for myself for once? An old general only has one chance to go to war. You're still young, and you still have a long way to go. Why fight with an old man like me? "
Liu Gu's eyes widened.
"It was because I didn't fight with you back then because I saw that you were older that the Teng Chong Camp suffered! What was the result? You're still talking about this now? "
Deng Zilong exploded when he heard this.
"So it was all my fault back then? Are you not wrong at all? Don't you know how to give way to an old man? "
"Hey, you …"
In the early years, Liu Gu and Deng Zilong had quarreled over the matter between Yao Anying and the Tengchong Camp. As a result, Liu Gu was dismissed from his post. Later, when Yao Anying rebelled, Deng Zilong was also dismissed from his post. The dark history between the two could never be erased. They had not seen each other for the past few years, so they gradually forgot about the past. However, there was still a grudge between them.
And now they were quarreling.
When Ma Wei saw the two of them arguing, he immediately stood up to stop them.
"Alright! Stop quarreling! It's been more than ten years. Both of you are generals, so why are you quarreling like this? Is it interesting? "
Ma Wei was the chief general appointed by Xiao Ruxun. Deng Zilong and Liu Gu could only shut their mouths indignantly.
This wouldn't do. The two of them still had to quarrel. They had to be convinced.
So Ma Wei thought of a good way that Xiao Ruxun used to solve disputes.
He turned around and wrote "Liuba" and "Lüyang" on two pieces of paper. Then, he rolled them into balls and held them in his left and right hands respectively. Then, he turned around to face the two of them and stretched out his hands.
"My left hand and right hand are holding a ball of paper respectively. On the paper balls are written Liuba and Lüyang. Choose for yourselves. Whoever chooses Liuba will guard Liuba, and whoever chooses Lüyang will guard Lüyang. Listen to God's command. Don't blame anyone."
Deng Zilong and Liu Gu looked at each other and snorted heavily.
"I want my left hand!"
Liu Gu decided.
"This old man wants my right hand!"
Deng Zilong also decided.
So, the two of them each got a paper ball. As soon as they opened it, Deng Zilong was overjoyed while Liu Gu covered his eyes with a face full of chagrin.
Deng Zilong chose Liuba and Liu Gu chose Lüyang.
"This is God's choice. Don't blame me."
Deng Zilong laughed triumphantly, while Liu Gu turned his head away in displeasure.
Seeing that the dispute was settled, Ma Wei smiled and said, "In this way, there's no problem. Liuba will be guarded by General Deng, and Lüyang will be entrusted to General Liu."
Later, Ma Wei decided to give Deng Zilong 30,000 troops to defend along the way, while Liu Gu took 20,000 troops to defend Lüyang, Yangping Pass and Mian County.
The terrain was also dangerous and narrow, making it difficult for a large army to spread out. So even if the total number of troops under Li Wen's command reached 100,000, they couldn't fully exert the advantage of 100,000 troops. Instead, they were limited by the narrow road and the harsh environment.
Therefore, compared to Li Wen's Northwest Army that came from afar, although the Hanzhong garrison only had 60,000 troops, they had a greater advantage.
As long as Li Wen's Northwest Army was intercepted in the mountains of the Qinling Mountains, they would be even more unable to exert their advantage. They could only constantly fight against the Hanzhong garrison who had the advantage in terrain and posture.
Food was their lifeline. Their logistics were extremely fragile, and their supply line was very long, making them extremely vulnerable to attacks. Ma Wei also had his eyes on their food supply line, so he wrote to Ma Qiancheng and Qin Liangyu in an attempt to recruit their white soldiers to join the battle.
The troops who were extremely good at fighting in the mountains and climbing the rivers could completely implement Ma Wei's tactics, like a divine army descending from the sky to attack their food supply line and destroy their extremely fragile lifeline.
This was the situation. If the logistics were not strong enough or the reserves were not sufficient, they would face the predicament of having no food to use after more than a month of no progress, just like Cao Zhen, Cao Shuang, and even Zhong Hui.
The difficult Shu Road was the enemy of food transportation, so whether it was Zhuge Liang's northern expedition or Cao Wei's counterattack, it was quite difficult. The Shu Road in the Qinling Mountains was a common problem for both sides.
But at the moment, there was no doubt that Li Wen was facing more pressure, while Ma Wei was facing less pressure. Whether it was supplies or support, Ma Wei and the others had the advantage and could defend with peace of mind, waiting for Li Wen to attack.
Setting up layers of defense, giving up at the appropriate time, giving him hope of victory, giving him false confidence, making it more and more difficult for Li Wen to retreat in time, making him more and more like a gambler. Soon, the gambler's psychology would control Li Wen, and step by step, Li Wen would be lured to death until he could no longer return.
Ma Wei did not intend to let the people around Xiao Ruxun, such as Chen Lin, Li Wenyuan, Zhao Hu, and Luo Rong, monopolize the military merits.
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