Cao Pi was worried, really worried.
After hearing the detailed report, Liu Bei issued an edict to attack Cao Wei and visited Hanzhong in person, Cao Pi thought that he had figured out the movements of the Shu thieves, and immediately led the Central Forbidden Army of 50,000 people to prepare to arrive in Luoyang to act as the backing for Cao Zhen of Chang'an and Zhang Liao of Wancheng.
Now Cao Pi does not dare to go to Chang'an anymore. Chang'an is considered the front line, and even if he wants to go, his subordinates will not let him go again.
Not to mention that Cao Pi didn't have the courage.
But when Cao Pi set out from Yecheng and first arrived at Mengjin, he received the Xuzhou battle report from Xu Huang and learned that Soochow did not even say hello and directly sent troops to attack Xiapi.
Sun Quan, the villain that Cao Pi hated, was not an emperor even if he wore a dragon robe. He didn't even issue an edict declaring war. How could he be so unscrupulous and sneak attack? !
Well, the children of Soochow basically have this virtue. If this is the case, Cao Pi won't worry too much. After all, Zang Ba of Xiapi is not an idiot. If he delays for a while and waits for Xu Huang of Yanzhou to come to his aid, he can hold Xiapi. Pi should not be a problem.
But then, Cao Pi received a letter from Cao Xiu and Jia Kui of Yuzhou. In addition to impeaching each other, they also told Cao Pi a bad news - Zhou Yu led troops out of Huainan and contacted Xu Sheng of Guangling and Lu Xun of Langya. Zhuge Jin besieged Xiapi from four directions.
Cao Pi was so angry that he tore up all the impeachment papers of the two men. He couldn't calm down for a long time.
But anyway, the problem now is that Zang Ba is besieged from all sides, and Xiapi is in a hurry, and may fall at any time.
At this time, it was meaningless for Cao Pi to curse Cao Xiu or Jia Kui. The key was to quickly find a way to solve the current situation.
After calming down, Cao Pi immediately called Liu Ye and Man Chong, who were accompanying the army on the expedition, and asked them for their opinions.
Liu Ye and Man Chong were both old men left over from Cao Cao's era, and they were both wise men and had some experience in fighting with the army. They gave Cao Pi some ideas and allowed Cao Pi to make a decision.
First of all, Cao Pi issued an order to Xu Huang to quickly march into Pengcheng to ensure the retreat to Xiapi. At the same time, he asked Xu Huang to oversee the war situation in Xuzhou, giving Xu Huang the right to make decisions on the fly without having to report everything.
Secondly, he wrote a letter to Cao Xiu in Yuzhou. He first scolded Cao Xiu for letting Zhou Yu run away, and then asked Cao Xiu to quickly lead his troops to rescue Xia Pi.
In this regard, Cao Pi is much better than his son, and he can still distinguish priorities.
Although Cao Xiu and Jia Kui are both responsible for what happened in Yuzhou, and no one is innocent. After all, if it weren't for the disagreement between you two, could Zhou Yu find a gap to get out of Huainan? !
But after all, Cao Pi still knew that Cao Xiu was a member of his family and Jia Kui was an outsider. In this case, he must first appease Jia Kui and make Jia Kui feel at ease. As for Cao Xiu, he could just feel aggrieved for the time being and find a way to make amends later. .
But the problem is, Cao Pi didn't know that the situation in Yuzhou had changed again at this time. Cao Xiu had already led troops to occupy Yinling and was preparing to attack Shouchun.
When Cao Pi's edict arrived in the hands of Jia Kui in Yuzhou, Jia Kui lamented that the emperor could distinguish right from wrong, and at the same time had to write to the emperor again, informing him of the current situation - most of Xia Pi had been lost, but Cao Xiu led his troops to fight against Shou. In spring, he only had 5,000 men, so he was ordered to support Peng Chengguo.
When Cao Pi led the imperial army to the border of Yanzhou, he received a second urgent letter from Xu Huang and a second petition from Jia Kui.
Xu Huang informed Cao Pi in his letter that most of Xiapi County has been lost, and the fall of Xiapi City is only a matter of time.
Now Zang Ba has assessed the situation and has retreated to Peng Chengguo to guard the last county in Xuzhou. He has also led his troops to join Zang Ba and is now setting up defense lines to lure the Soochow army into a siege.
This news made the already distressed Cao Pi feel even worse. Once Xuzhou was completely lost, Soochow would extend its tentacles into Yanzhou. Cao Pi would never allow this to happen.
Since Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, the wars in these years have not gone smoothly. If Soochow is allowed to bully him again, his position as emperor will be unstable sooner or later.
Just when Cao Pi was hesitating whether to let Cao Zhen take over for a while and lead the troops to deal with those shameless Jiangdong children, Jia Kui's letter also arrived.
After reading Jia Kui's letter, Cao Pi became even more angry, and his head hurt a little from the anger. Cao Pi suddenly understood what it was like for his father to be tortured by headaches.
With such a subordinate in the stall, and he is from his own clan, how can he not get a headache from anger?
But what can be done now? Cao Xiu has already led his troops to fight against Shouchun. Calling them back now would be a serious detriment to the morale of the army.
Besides, it would be a good thing if Cao Xiu captured Shouchun. At least it would cut off Zhou Yu's retreat and force Zhou Yu to receive supplies from the waterway of Guangling County.
Even if Shouchun cannot be defeated, if Zhou Yu can be attracted to return to Huainan, it will be a good thing for the Xuzhou war situation.
Therefore, Cao Pi could only ignore Cao Xiu's actions for the time being and write a letter to Jia Kui to appease him, give Jia Kui a promotion, and reward him for his actions.
What to do next? !
Now that Xiapi can't be saved, isn't it a little bad to let those Jiangdong kids run wild? !
This will show that our great Wei is incompetent and cannot even deal with a kid from Jiangdong.
Cao Pi once again summoned Liu Ye, Man Chong, and Xia Houshang to discuss the military situation.
The last time they only summoned Liu Ye and Man Chong, they just discussed how to supplement the established strategy and block Soochow's attack.
Now, Cao Pi even called Xia Houshang, a trusted general. This was not a simple discussion of military situation. Cao Pi wanted to change his strategy.
The original strategy was to station troops in Luoyang to support Cao Zhen who was guarding Chang'an.
Now, Cao Pi couldn't swallow this breath. He wanted to take control of Yanzhou and fight Soochow first.
Anyway, it is easy to go to Yanzhou and Luoyang now. There is no problem of repeated marches and straining the morale of the soldiers.
As for Liu Ye, Man Chong, and Xia Houshang, after hearing Cao Pi's thoughts, they all looked at each other and said, "Oh, the emperor of Wei, this is a war, not a game of house."
The shift of military focus is not that easy. Even if our Wei family has a great cause, we cannot withstand your troubles.
Apart from anything else, food, grass, ordnance is not so easy to transport.
Previously, our military focus has been on conquering Qingxu. Food, grass and weapons were placed in Yanzhou, ready to attack at any time.
But you, the emperor, are hesitant and worried that Liu Bei will take the opportunity to attack Guanzhong, so you delay sending troops. Yanzhou and Yuzhou also dare not take action because of this.
Later, Liu Bei issued an edict and arrived in Hanzhong. In just one or two months, the Shu thieves would invade Guanzhong. At this time, you would lead the Central Forbidden Army on an expedition. The strategy you formulated at that time was to arrive in Luoyang and coordinate with Chang'an.
Since that time, some of Yanzhou's soldiers, rations and weapons have been shipped to Luoyang, and Yanzhou has only retained the soldiers, rations and weapons needed for defense.
But now, you have to change your strategy again. What if you transport Luoyang's defenders, rations and weapons to Yanzhou? Will there be any benefit from going back and forth like this except wasting rations? !
My Emperor Wei, war is not a child's play, and I really can't let you go back and forth like this.
However, these three people also know that Cao Pi is not too narrow-minded, and it is not easy to persuade Cao Pi so directly. When saying that we can't mess around, we must be tactful, so that Cao Pi himself realizes that military affairs are not a child's play, and cannot be done. Tossing back and forth.
"Today's trouble lies in the west, not in the east." Liu Ye was the first to stand up, raised his hands and said to Cao Pi, "Jiangdong is no more than a plague of mustard moss. All you want is a city and a place, and the rebel Liu Bei's plan This is something that your Majesty cannot ignore when it comes to your family, country, and country."
When Man Chong heard what Liu Ye said, he immediately felt confident. He quickly raised his hands and said, "Your Majesty, what Liu Shizhong said is absolutely true. Now Liu Bei is stationed in Hanzhong. He can leave Qishan and enter Guanzhong at any time. Guan Yu in Jingzhou is making frequent movements. If there is a two-pronged attack, Your Majesty will have to guard against it!"
Anyway, there is only one central idea, which makes Cao Pi understand that the biggest enemy now is not Sun Quan, who has no magnanimity at all, but Liu Bei in the west.
As long as Cao Pi still targets Guanzhong as his support target, there will be no need to change this strategy, and there will be no need to go back and forth.
Of course, Xia Houshang also understood the thoughts of Liu Ye and Man Chong, but there was one thing that Xia Houshang knew better.
Cao Pi wanted to fight Sun Quan not only to vent his anger, but more importantly, Cao Pi also wanted to establish some meritorious deeds and show them to people with ulterior motives.
In the past few years since Cao Pi took the throne, although he claimed to have defeated Liu Bei, there were too many humiliating things. Even when Cao Pi was the emperor of Wei, many people gossiped about him in private.
I have never seen the founding emperor who kept losing his territory like this.
Therefore, Cao Pi wanted to beat Sun Quan, but he actually had no intention of picking on the weak. I couldn't beat Liu Bei, who was older than me, so how could I beat Sun Quan, who was your generation? !
In fact, Cao Pi had revealed this kind of thoughts in private, and only those who were relatively close knew about it, and Xia Houshang obviously knew what Cao Pi was thinking.
But Xia Houshang really didn't approve of Cao Pi's thoughts, and he even more disapproved of Cao Pi's thoughts at this time.
Xia Houshang's skills and abilities may be slightly worse than Cao Zhen's, but they are not much different from Cao Xiu.
And the most important thing is that Xia Houshang is a responsible person who knows what to do when and must not act on impulse.
Therefore, Xia Houshang thought about it for a while, and also advised Cao Pi, saying, "The Sun family of Jiangdong is the son of a small official. Your Majesty will not be happy even if you win. Liu Bei of Xichuan is a great hero in the world and a clan member of the Han Dynasty. If your Majesty If we can break it in one fell swoop, doesn’t it mean Wei Hu is destined by fate?!”
Xia Houshang's meaning was very clear, which was to tell Cao Pi that it's no big deal if you defeat Sun Quan. Only if you really defeat Liu Bei will the world truly recognize you.
Furthermore, the Wei Dynasty was established on behalf of the Han Dynasty. Instead of cutting off Liu Bei, who was carrying the banner of the Han Dynasty, you went to fight Soochow, which had a shady reputation and a bad reputation. Are you unscrupulous? !
When Cao Pi saw that the three counselors and generals he brought this time did not agree with him going to Yanzhou, he became a little confused.
Especially Xiahou Shang's words made Cao Pi murmur in his heart. Yes, the benefits of defeating Liu Bei are much greater than those of defeating Sun Quan.
Defeating Sun Quan is just to look good, but if you defeat Liu Bei, it will not only make you look good, but also have clear political implications.
Cao Pi had a change of heart.
At this time, Cao Pi received an urgent report from Zhang Liao of Wancheng - Guan Yu led troops to attack Nanyang, and now the troops were approaching Deng County.
Yes, don't think about it anymore. If you think about it again, you may not know how the situation will turn out.
Let's follow the original plan and station troops in Luoyang to support Wancheng and Chang'an.
As for Xiapi, Cao Pi issued an edict to Xu Huang, asking Xu Huang to oversee the war in Xuzhou. At the same time, he gave Xu Huang a bottom-line goal - Xiapi can be lost, but Pengcheng Kingdom must hold it and not let the people of Soochow take advantage of it!
(End of chapter)
