During the last half year of confrontation, Zhang Zhi and Sima You certainly didn’t know how to eat idle food every day, basking in the sun and sleeping, and did nothing. Whether it was Zhang Zhi or Sima You, in the past six months, they actually made a lot of preparations for the next step of the war and made a lot of effort, but they didn’t really start fighting and seemed calm. There were still many things that were hidden in secret, and they could not be seen on the surface.

Of course, the Han army has been expanding its troops and preparing for war. Due to its population base, it is difficult to recruit new soldiers in Hanzhong. Zhang Zhi could only order Huo Yi, Chen Can and others to fully tap the potential of Yizhou. In the spring of the seventh year of Yanxing, he recruited and formed 10,000 new soldiers in Yizhou and went north to take the Micang Road to replenish the troops, expanding the Hanzhong garrison to nearly 60,000. At the same time, he was given high-intensity rigorous training so that the Han army could have sufficient troops in the next step of war.

Secondly, of course, is military production. In the past six months, not only have the weapons, armor, gunpowder and other substances produced in Yizhou been continuously transported north through the Micang Road, but the Hanzhong military production system left by Zhuge Village and Jiang Wei was also completely redeveloped. They produced various armors and weapons for the Han army day and night, further improving the equipment status of the Han army, and allowing many Han army soldiers from non-elite troops to wear steel-filled armor and use oil-quenching weapons. Of course, due to the productivity and production technology of this era, the proportion is not very high.

Then there is the people's livelihood, which has entrusted the blessing of Shangyong's mountain road. The junk food and Shu brocade of the Han army have been sold to the Central Plains in exchange for various military supplies. The new money of the Han army has gradually spread to the Central Plains through Shangyong Road. With its unmatched advantages, it has gradually become a hard currency in the Central Plains and is welcomed and trusted by the people of the Central Plains.

At the same time, under the deliberate indulgence of the Han army, the smuggling of junk food and Shu brocade to the west was also rampant, allowing instant noodles, lunch meat and other goods to gradually appear in Liangzhou, Longxi, and even on the dining tables of some Qiang and Xianbei chiefs, which also allowed the Jin army participating in the smuggling to make quite a lot of profits.

Compared with Zhang Zhi, Sima You made more efforts. In addition to training troops and preparing for war and improving people's livelihood to win the support of the people, Sima You also adopted the suggestions of Hu Lie, Wang Hun, Wei Guan and others, and spent a lot of effort to carry out intelligence work. The focus was on investigating the junk food situation of the Han army, and the secrets that the Han army could fight for a long time without relying on food channels, as well as the secrets of the Han army's gunpowder weapons and good armor, which also achieved some results.

Through the collection of information from all aspects, Sima You and others finally knew how the Han army transformed the food of the army. Whenever they arrived at a place, the Han army either moved out supplies from the valleys and caves on the side of the road, or built a temporary warehouse with wooden stakes and gasbon cloth. Then, as long as Zhang Zhi personally entered the temporary warehouse, the warehouse would be filled with various junk food. Although Sima You and others felt it was like a myth, when they could not find more sources of information, Sima You and others could only choose to believe it for the time being.

Of course no one knows the truth about how much junk food the Han army had. However, with the hard work of the Jin army, the details of the Han army's paper armor, gunpowder and new weapons were found by the Jin army. However, it is a pity that due to the serious shortage of raw materials, even though the Jin army knew that the paper armor was made of instant noodles cartons and advanced armor weapons were cast from canned tinplate, they had no way to imitate production. They could only imitate some samples to study weaknesses. However, gunpowder weapons were always in the exploration stage because they did not know the formula and production process.

Under such circumstances, Sima Yan's edict to war certainly posed a big problem for Sima You, and after receiving the edict, Sima You shouted and said, "Brother, why are you doing so urgently? Why don't you give me more time? At least, you have to wait until I copy the thief's palm thunder and artillery cannons, right?"

"King of Qi, the conditions for counterattacking Hanzhong are not yet ripe." Wei Guan, who accompanied Sima You in Chang'an, also said: "Although our troops have an advantage, the geographical advantage of the bandit army is enough to offset our troops' advantages. If we take the initiative to attack now, it will not only be difficult for us to succeed, but on the contrary, we may be defeated by the bandit army's counterattack."

It was precisely because he was not sure and after thinking about it, Sima You submitted a memorial to Sima Yan, begging Sima Yan to agree to suspend the attack and to go south after he was fully prepared. However, what Sima You did not expect was that in less than a long time, Sima Yan not only sent someone to send a second edict to urge the war again, but his father-in-law Jia Chong and his best friend Xiahou He and others also wrote letters, all of whom advised him to launch an attack as soon as possible and fight one or two victories to give an explanation to the people of the world. At the same time, he also introduced the severe situation that the Jin court had been overwhelmed by the Western Front, and helped Sima Yan put pressure on Sima You.

Seeing that all the best friends said this, Sima You had no choice but to convene a military meeting with civil and military generals under his command to discuss how to advance and win several battles as soon as possible to calm people's hearts. However, it is a pity that because he was afraid of being beaten by the Han army, the fierce generals of the Jin army, including Hu Lie, did not speak at the meeting and did not dare to make any tactical suggestions.

"Why don't you talk?"

Sima You asked loudly and said, "Your Majesty asked us to advance to Hanzhong as soon as possible to revive Zhang Zhi's rebel thieves. Why did you say nothing? Have you been killed by the pseudo-Han thief army and dared not fight head-on with the thief army again?"

"King Qi is forgiven." Hu Lie said with a wry smile and said, "It's not that the Mo General was afraid of being beaten by the thief army. The main reason is that it is too difficult to attack Hanzhong. Ziwu Valley, Baoxiao Road and Tangluo Road, there is no road that is not a one-man who is the pass, and tens of thousands of men cannot open it. We are really not sure if we ask us to take these roads to enter Hanzhong."

"Especially, the Hanzhong bandit army has a very strong force now, reaching nearly 60,000 people." Wang Hun also said: "The sixty thousand troops can ensure that the bandit army is able to hold the passes everywhere, making it difficult for us to advance. The Qinling Mountain Road is famous for its supply difficulties. The bandit army does not need to take risks to fight, but only needs a risky defense, which is enough to make our army south return without success."

The civil and military officials of the Jin army agreed, and they all had many concerns about the terrible mountain road leading to Hanzhong in Chang'an. Many people also cited the example of Cao Zhen going south to Ziwu Valley and the Battle of Xingshi, and they all thought that the southern expedition was too difficult. Sima You was furious when he saw it and said, "Then how did Zhong Hui quickly take Hanzhong when he attacked Shu?"

"King of Qi, Zhong Hui was able to quickly capture Hanzhong when he attacked Shu, because Hanzhong's troops were empty, with a total of only more than 10,000 troops." Wang Hun replied helplessly: "But now it is different. There are now 60,000 thieves in Hanzhong. How do we fight?"

Sima You was speechless, and then said hatefully: "In this way, is there no way to do it?"

"King of Qi, of course there is a way."

A civil servant who was ranked below suddenly spoke and said, "But the key is, does Your Majesty support it with all your strength? If Your Majesty supports it with all your strength, let alone one or two victory will inspire the morale of the army, even if we restore the land of Hanzhong, there will be no hopelessness."

Hearing this, everyone and Sima You hurriedly looked at the person who spoke together. The person who spoke was not someone else. It happened to be Wang Jun, the former former military officer of the Jin Ting Three Prefectures. Seeing everyone staring at him, Wang Jun was not panicked, but said again: "King of Qi, if you can get a kind edict from Your Majesty and let the military officer of the Jingzhou Metropolis Yang Huyang also lead the army to participate in the Battle of Hanzhong, and attack Hanzhong in three directions, our great Jin army will definitely have some results!"

"Let Governor Yang also participate in the battle against the thieves? How to participate?" Sima You asked quickly.

"Ask Governor Yang to send troops from Jingzhou, go to Nanyang, and go to the mediocre road to attack Nanxiang Chenggu." Wang Jun said without thinking: "Another ask the veteran general Shi Baoshi to concentrate the troops on the Jinniu Road and attack Yang'an Pass in the east. King Qi can take advantage of the situation to lead the army to take Hanzhong south to attack Hanzhong. Three groups of attacks against the pseudo-Han thieves, making it difficult for the bandits to take care of the head and tail. Then we can act according to the opportunity, defeat the pseudo-Han thieves who fought separately, and restore the land and cities that fell."

"Uncle Yang from Shangyong to Nanxiang, and General Shi entered Yang'an Pass from Baishui to Yang'an Pass. I took the Baoxi Road to take straight to Hanzhong? Three groups of attacks on the pseudo-Han thieves?"

Sima You showed joy on his face, and he immediately discovered that this tactic was extremely operable. Wang Hun said angrily: "The Confucians talk about military affairs! The bandit army is best at decisive battles, and is especially good at defeating the more with few, and fighting with the few with a few. We concentrate our troops and fight head-on decisive battles with the bandit army and cannot guarantee victory. How can we still divide our troops into three groups? Isn't this a chance to defeat our three groups of troops?"

"President General of the Conquest and Rescue" Wang Jun replied in a humble manner and said, "It is true that the thief army is good at head-on decisive battles, but the general of the Conquest and Rescue neglected a detail, that is, only Zhang Zhi, the thief himself is good at head-on decisive battles, but his side-in-hand troops are not good at it. At least until now, the thief's side-in-hand troops have no decent achievements."

"What does this mean?"

Wang Hun heard something from Wang Jun's words, and Wang Jun replied in a humble and arrogant manner: "Please recall carefully that since the rebels rebelled, the decisive battle between the thief army and our Great Jin army was not commanded by Zhang Zhi's rebels himself? Another fierce battle was fought by the thief's side troops? Who can be like Zhang Zhi's rebels, who can defeat the majority with few and defeat the masses with fewer troops?"

Wang Jun's words immediately reminded Wang Hun and others, and also reminded Wang Hun immediately that since the Han army's rise, the Han army's partial divisions have indeed not had any dazzling results. The Han army's brilliant achievements are indeed all fought by the main force of the Han army commanded by Zhang Zhi himself. Then Hu Lie rushed to say: "This is reasonable. The main force of the thief is indeed powerful. I admit that, but the thief's partial divisions have never had a good record. This is also a fact. As long as we grasp this point and make a fuss, it will not be difficult to make a breakthrough in the thief's partial divisions."

"It's not that difficult, but certain." Wang Jun said confidently: "Please think carefully about it if our three armies advance to Hanzhong at the same time and the bandits are forced to divide into three armies to fight, no matter which way we meet the main force of the bandits, we choose to stand firm and not fight and delay time. How much time opportunities can we get for the other two armies? As long as one armies succeeds in one armies, how much impact will it have on the bandits?"

Wang Hun finally nodded slowly. Wei Guan, who had been silent, finally spoke and said, "It is a solution. Three groups of attacks, and no matter which way they encounter the main force of the thief army, they will avoid fighting. This can create time and opportunities for the other two groups. As long as the remaining two groups make a certain breakthrough, the thief army will be at a loss and be in a difficult position, which will help us further expand the results of the battle."

"That's it!"

Sima You, who was anxious to give Sima Yan an explanation, was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately clapped his legs and said, "Hurry up and plan a detailed plan for advancement. I will submit a letter to the court and ask the emperor's brother to issue an edict to ask Yang Shuzi to lead his army from Shangyong to Hanzhong, cooperate with us to attack Hanzhong in three groups and regain the land of the fallen land!"

After doing what he said, he quickly developed a detailed plan of advance, Sima You wrote a memorial on the same day and sent it to Luoyang, asking Sima Yan to agree to let Yang Hu lead his army north to join the war. Taking advantage of the window when the three northern expeditions of the Eastern Wu line had been killed and retreated, the three routes attacked the Han army in Hanzhong.

After the memorial was sent to Luoyang, Sima Yan thought about it over and over again. First of all, Sima You did not ask for command of the troops in Jingzhou, secondly, the country was his own, and thirdly, all officials in Luoyang agreed to agree to Sima You's plan to attack Shu in three ways. While issuing an edict to approve it, he ordered Yang Hu to immediately rectify his troops and prepare to go north to participate in the attack on the Han army.

What no one knows is that the three-way advance plan proposed by Wang Jun actually hit Yang Hu's thoughts in the Jin Dynasty's military military in Jingzhou. So after receiving the edict from Sima Yan to ask him to participate in the attack on the Han army, Yang Hu not only did not protest at all, but instead applauded and laughed: "Your Majesty is wise. Finally, I have to participate in the fight against the pseudo-Han thief army. We must pay so much attention to Zhang Zhi's rebel thief. Otherwise, with the ability of this rebel thief, if he can develop for a few more years, who else in the world can control him?"

Shi Bao's reaction is also worth mentioning. After learning about Sima You's tactical plan for the three routes of troops, Shi Bao, who was in charge of the important Baishui town, not only immediately began to prepare to attack Yang'an Pass in the west, but also ordered his son Shi Qiao: "Send someone immediately to secretly contact Meng Gan, the Yang'an Pass guard of the pseudo-Han thief army, and said that his goods had been sold out and asked him to supply another batch of goods. This time we will charge him 20% less for the transfer fee."

"Father, the war is coming, why do you still have to do business with that greedy man?" Shi Qiao asked in confusion.
Chapter completed!