Chapter 766

After Liu Bu took Yiling, although his main force would not be able to rush to Xiangyang for a while and a half, he still ordered his Navy and cavalry to quickly send out to reinforce Xiangyang.

There are too few troops under Li Dingguo, but it is very stressful for him to hold such a huge city.

Liu Bu understands that with Xiangyang in their hands, the situation in Huguang can be stabilized. If Xiangyang falls, it will be in trouble.

Liu Bu's goal is to pacify the south of the Yangtze River within a year or two, and then start the northern expedition to dominate the world.

To achieve such a strategic vision, they must make a quick decision. If they fall into a protracted battle, they will lag behind.

The strength of Daming has been weakened again and again. The army of Daming has now mainly formed four groups.

The so-called four major groups refer to, first of all, the nine border important towns deployed around the Great Wall in the northernmost. The army here still has a certain combat effectiveness; The second is Hong Chengchou group in Baoding and Yang Sichang group in Tianjin; Zhu Xieyuan group in the south.

Originally, the Ming Court hoped that Xiong Wencan, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, would organize an army in Guangdong and Guangdong and take up troops to contain the Chinese army. However, this man was greedy and afraid of death. At the beginning, he was unwilling to do it.

Since the Zheng family announced their surrender, he was even more afraid to oppose the Liu family. He simply abandoned his official post and went away with his seal.

The imperial court had high expectations for Xiong Wencan. The whole family ruled the country and the world. They poured all their strength into the fallen and helped the building. Only the scholar bureaucrats. As a result, Xiong dacan did not even serve as an official and left directly, which completely failed their deployment in Guangdong and Guangxi.

This move also had an extremely bad impact. The imperial court originally wanted to rely on the troops and resources of the provinces of Guangdong and Guangdong to contain the Chinese army from the south, but even the governor in this place quit and could expect others to work hard.

It can be said that Zhu Xieyuan played a positive role in the south, while Xiong Wencan played a relatively negative role.

Guangdong is connected with Fujian, and the two sides have very close ties, especially in the coastal areas. Basically, we all know that there is a great man named Zheng family. Many people in the far sea live on Zheng family.

But now they know that even the Zheng family has taken refuge in the Chinese army. The imperial court does not know the power of the Chinese army and refuses to give them high positions and treatment. However, these people know the power of the Zheng family. Even the Zheng family has been subdued by the Chinese army. It can be seen how powerful and terrible they are.

This is probably one of the reasons why Xiong Wencan abandoned his official position and fled. Since he has made so much money, why not go home and enjoy it, so as not to lose his reputation and death when he is old.

There are strong and loyal officials like Lu Xiangsheng and Zhu Xieyuan in Daming, but there are also people like Qian Yi, Wu Zongda and Xiong Wencan who are at the helm. They have no national righteousness in their hearts, only their own personal interests.

Liu bu also knows that only in this way can their Liu family have hope. If everyone were like Lu Xiangsheng and Zhu Xieyuan, their Liu family would have been wiped out long ago, and the grass on the grave would be tall.

After a short rest, Liu Bu immediately ordered his army to go north and rush to Xiangyang. When Liu Bu was halfway there, he received the news from Xiangyang.

There are two most important news. Of course, Zhu Xieyuan's army pulled out of camp and went north to retreat with all its strength. It has completely withdrawn from Huguang and rushed to Henan.

Another is Liu Zhongyong, who is far away in Suizhou. He sent his elite cavalry to help Xiangyang. He has entered Xiangyang City. The troops in Xiangyang City have doubled. At this moment, even if Zhu Xieyuan's 100000 troops are still there, Li Dingguo is sure to guard this city.

Liu Bu's main purpose is to annihilate Zhu Xieyuan. If he is killed, one of the four heavy army groups in Daming will lose, which is equivalent to a broken leg of a table. Daming will not be able to survive. However, Zhu Xieyuan is a smart man after all, and he is also an iron-clad and decisive loyal minister. He dares to be in such a situation, Resolutely lead the troops north and retreat with all strength.

If it was someone else, he would never dare to carry out such a strategic retreat without the approval of the emperor and the court, but Zhu Xieyuan didn't even think about it and set out directly.

This also failed Liu Bu's plan. Liu Bu's plan was mainly to destroy Zhu Xieyuan and the effective forces of Daming. If he destroyed him, Daming could lose his strategic offensive ability. However, Zhu Xieyuan was a smart man with strategic vision. He retreated immediately when he saw that the wind was wrong.

This is a good thing for Daming, but it is definitely not a good thing for Zhu Xieyuan. Afterwards, he will even be investigated, but he eventually brought out 100000 troops.

Liu Bu saw that Zhu Xieyuan eventually retreated. Thinking about the encirclement and suppression of this army, I'm afraid he can't. He can only send someone to report to Nanjing. His western expedition achieved initial success.

The main purpose of Liu Bu's western expedition was to defeat Zhu Xieyuan, wait for the opportunity to seize Sichuan, complete the control of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and control Sichuan, which also meant that they had an absolute advantage in the south.

As the commander of the Chinese army and the future successor of the Empire, Liu Bu has a strategic vision. This strategic vision is not that he is smarter than others, but that he has a vision beyond the times. Others will be trapped in the limitations of the times and can't understand the situation, while Liu Bu knows it very well.

Zhu Xieyuan withdrew north. After he was unable to pursue and kill the other party, he immediately ordered his subordinates to dispatch half of their troops to advance westward along the river to support Liu Kang and capture Sichuan.

The original plan of the Chinese army was to take Sichuan. After Zhu Xieyuan retreated, they had to retreat and take Sichuan first.

Zhu Xieyuan escaped, which doesn't matter. The addition of more than 100000 troops in Daming may not have much impact on them. Daming lost the rich Jiangnan and rich Sichuan. There are not many places they control, which makes them have little ability to compete with China for the world.

Liu Jiajun's strong rise has made it possible to seize the world. Daming wants to annihilate them and strangle them in the bud. It is impossible. The future struggle will focus on the comprehensive strength of both sides.

In terms of comprehensive strength, the Chinese army has money and can do business. It occupies rich places in the South and has sufficient food producing areas and various materials. These advantages are unmatched by Daming in the north.

The Central Plains Dynasty has been poor in the north and rich in the South since ancient times, but the North has strong military strength and can overwhelm the south at any time.

Since ancient times, only Taizu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang has the ability to unify the South and the north.

Others are dominated by the north.

But now the situation of Daming is somewhat different. The north of Daming still has strong military strength, but its military strength is abnormal, because the north of Daming has suffered the once-in-a-century small ice age, the drought is very serious, grain production in most places has been reduced, and natural and man-made disasters continue. That is to say, the north of Daming does not have enough resources to feed this huge army.

The Chinese Empire in the South did not have this problem.

Liu Bu was aware of this, so after discovering that Zhu Xieyuan escaped, he immediately strengthened his troops and asked them to set out to compete for Sichuan, which is a rare rich place in the world. If he controlled it, the Chinese Empire would have more chips, on the contrary, there would be fewer in Daming.

Originally, Daming lacked enough food to feed so many troops. They were even more sad when they lost Sichuan and Shaanxi at any time.

Liu Bu was on his way day and night. He rode on a fierce horse and set out with the army. Who knows that his prey has run away, he is not in a hurry. Zhu Xieyuan can run, but Xiangyang City will not. He must go to Xiangyang City, but this is only an inspection, not a planned large-scale battle.

Since it was an inspection, he didn't have to travel day and night. He had been walking for three days. He planned to walk for six days. Liu Bu still didn't want to eat it.

Of course, his marching speed slowed down, which was why he ordered General Yang Shun to advance westward. He divided tens of thousands of troops and horses under the command of Yang Shun. He rushed to Sichuan. There were so many troops divided and sent a general again, which involved a lot of energy of Liu bu.

This has slowed down his marching speed, but now Liu Bu can afford to delay. A few days ago, he was worried about whether to start with Sichuan or Zhu Xieyuan. Since Zhu Xieyuan has fled, he had to choose his next goal, which is to win Sichuan.

Zhu Xieyuan will escape, but Sichuan will not. He decided to send superior troops. If necessary, the national strength of the Chinese empire is not enough, so he had to win Sichuan.

Now Sichuan is in a power vacuum. It's the best time to send troops to win him. If they don't come out and let local giants take advantage of the opportunity to control these large counties, it's difficult for him to rob again.

Zhu Xieyuan's army has withdrawn from Sichuan, which means that the Imperial forces have withdrawn from Sichuan. What's more, it means that this is a time of power vacuum. Local giants and local tyrants are watching. The waiting time is limited. If the Chinese army quickly fills this gap, it is estimated that these people dare not be demons and will still respect the Chinese army as the new moon, Continue to be obedient to the emperor and the people.

If the Chinese Army delays in taking action and gives up control over this rich place, it will make local people have ideas and they will take advantage of the situation.

You know, there are also many chieftains in the West and north of Sichuan. They have troops in their hands.

In times of peace and prosperity, when the country is strong, these forces dare not mess around, but when the country is chaotic, they will inevitably have the idea of taking advantage of the fire.