The Three Kingdoms become stronger when they get treasures

Chapter 430 General Mobilization
Cao Jun's iron cavalry really lived up to their reputation. Under the leadership of Cao Xiu, they finally broke out of the encirclement, but the two thousand elite cavalry also suffered heavy casualties, and Cao Hong retreated while being cut off.

The thousands of cavalry led by Ma Chao were all Di people's cavalry, and their combat effectiveness was not as good as that of Cao Jun's cavalry, so Xu Shu put them behind to take charge of harvesting.These foreign cavalry are definitely not the opponents of Cao Jun's elite cavalry in a frontal confrontation, but they are still capable of chasing and harvesting when Cao Jun retreats.

Xu Shu also did not plan to wipe out Cao Hong's [-] soldiers, because he did not have many troops and could not completely surround Cao's army.

But here is still a long distance from Yangping Pass, Cao Jun fled in a hurry, the cavalry ran fast, but the infantry was unlucky, Xu Shu led the troops to chase all the way, Ma Chao led the cavalry to catch up to intercept from time to time.

Cao Hong asked Cao Xiu to lead his men to flee forward desperately, and he had to lead the cavalry to break back again and again, but the opposing generals Ma Chao and Huang Zhong were too fierce, and Cao Hong couldn't stand it alone.Cao Jun could only retreat along the Maming Pavilion Avenue, not daring to go into the forest, because the advantage of the cavalry could still be used on the avenue, and once they entered the mountain forest, the cavalry would be useless, and maybe Xu Shu would take the blame.

Cao Hong was a little anxious. If this continues, not to mention how many of the [-] Cao troops will be left in the end, even he himself may not be able to escape back to Yangping Pass alive.

At this critical moment, a Cao army suddenly came forward to meet Cao Hong.It turned out that it was Zhang Yun who came with his troops, and this new force withstood the Chu army's pursuit. Cao Hong and Cao Xiu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As a member of the "Five Sons of Good Generals", although Zhang Yun's rank is lower than Xu Shu's at this time, he can probably be regarded as the first star, and he is very close to the king, so his vision is wider than Cao Hong's.When Zhang Yun found out about Xu Shu's retreat, his first reaction was to think that Xu Shu should go to Dingjun Mountain to join Fazheng before attacking Nanzheng.

But then Zhang He thought that Xia Houyuan's death was not an accident, but something that the other party had planned for a long time. The purpose was to capture Hanzhong while the main force of Cao's army was on the battlefield in Huainan.Because the geographical location of Hanzhong is so important, it was originally a county in Yizhou and was the gateway guarding the throat of Yizhou.

That being the case, with Xu Shu's strategy, there must be other backers, so Zhang Yun sent additional people across the Han River to investigate southward, but he did not find the movement of Xu Shu's army.

Xu Shu didn't lead his army to join Fazheng, so where would he go?

Zhang Yun immediately felt that something was wrong, because it was impossible for Xu Shu's army to march east or north. Since it didn't go south, it went west, and it was going to intercept Cao Hong!

Zhang Yun, who guessed the truth of the matter, immediately led [-] soldiers out of the pass, and he was going to meet Cao Hong.If something happened to Cao Hong's [-] troops, Hanzhong would really be lost.

Zhang He, who was born in a poor family, started from the suppression of the Yellow Turban, step by step to where he is today. He has experienced countless wars, large and small. But the promotion was successful.

Xu Shu saw that the other side had reinforcements to respond, so he withdrew his troops to clean up the battlefield, and there was no point in chasing after him, because Yangping Pass was ahead.Cao Jun died and fled along the way, and only [-] of the [-] army remained. Xu Shu ordered Ma Chao to take Wu Lan and Lei Tong to search for Cao Jun's defeated troops, and then led his troops to Dingjun Mountain.

After Cao Hong and Cao Xiu fled to Yangping Pass, counting the number of people was really heartbreaking. Of the [-] troops, [-] fled back, and the elite cavalry was basically lost. How can this Hanzhong be defended!
There was no other way, after Cao Hong took a rest, he could only take these remnants of the defeated generals to Nanzheng, while Zhang He only left [-] soldiers to guard Yangping Pass, and Cao Hong took all the remaining soldiers and horses away.Except for Yangping Pass, other small passes, camps, etc. all withdrew their troops and reduced their forces to defend.

Yangping Pass guards Liangzhou’s entrance to Hanzhong and controls the avenue entering Hanzhong. It cannot be lost, otherwise reinforcements will be able to cross the Qinling Mountains, but the food and grass cannot be transported, so Zhang He stays at Yangping Pass and waits for the reinforcements sent by Cao Cao.

At the same time, the whole of Yizhou has already started a full-scale mobilization. Veteran Yan Yan led his troops from Brazil County to Dingjun Mountain, Wu Yi and Zhang Yi led his troops from Langzhong, and Yizhou Governor Zhang Song personally joined Meng Da in the army. Chengdu rushed to Dingjun Mountain with soldiers and horses to escort food and grass.

The battle of Dingjunshan seemed to sound the clarion call to launch a general offensive. As the commander of the western front, Xu Shu mobilized all the forces that could be mobilized in Yizhou to take Hanzhong.

Because Hanzhong is so important to Yizhou, if Zhang Wu wants to defeat Cao Cao to rule the world, he needs to win Hanzhong first, and then he can attack Liangzhou to get a war horse, so that he can really compete with Cao Cao, instead of staying in the south all the time.

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang in the original book also clearly realized this, so they tried their best to take down Hanzhong.If there is no Hanzhong, it is equivalent to the big house he worked so hard to build without a gate, and Cao Cao, the greatest enemy, is hanging around the gate of his house.In order to concentrate his forces against Cao Cao and seize Hanzhong, Liu Bei did not hesitate to return the three counties of Changsha, Guiyang, and Lingling to Sun Quan, but he did not want to fight on both sides.

For Wei State, Hanzhong is a very important but not particularly important portal, but for Shu State, it is an extremely important portal. The strategic significance is different for the two sides.However, this does not mean that Cao Cao regards Hanzhong as a real tasteless place. Occupying Hanzhong, the Wei army can retreat to protect the safety of Guanzhong, and advance can take Liu Bei's old life.

When Liu Bei failed to attack repeatedly, he sent a letter to Zhuge Liang in the rear, but he increased his troops and food. Zhuge Liang asked Yang Hong for his opinion. Yang Hong said: "Hanzhong is the throat of Yizhou. There is no Shu! The disaster of this family is that the men should fight and the women should be lucky, so why should you doubt sending troops?"

It means that if Hanzhong is taken, Yizhou can live, but if Hanzhong is not taken, everyone will die soon, so all men of the right age should go to the battlefield, and women should also act to deliver food and grass. Why hesitate?

So Zhuge Liang quickly mobilized his troops and sent them to the Hanzhong battlefield, which can be said to have brought out all the potential of Yizhou.If this battle is lost, the Liu Bei Group will also be destroyed.

Now Xu Shu has to mobilize all the forces in Yizhou to capture Hanzhong. Even if all the troops in Yizhou are exhausted, as long as Hanzhong can be captured in the end, it will be worth it.

Not only Yizhou, but even Pang Tong in Xiangyang acted quickly after getting the news.On the one hand, he ordered the defenders of Jiangling to go to Yizhou to support Xu Shu by water and land, and on the other hand, he left Huo Jun and Guan Ping to guard Fancheng. He and Guan Yu personally led [-] troops up the Han River to join Xu Shu in Hanzhong.

Xiahou Dun, the garrison of Wancheng, also knew the news about Hanzhong. He was saddened by the death of his brother Xiahou Yuan and worried about the situation in Hanzhong.Cao Chun, who originally guarded Wancheng with Xiahou Dun, died of illness this spring. Xiahou Dun had no choice but to leave Manchong to guard the city and personally led three thousand cavalry to Chang'an at night.

(End of this chapter)