During Liu Bei's second Northern Expedition, he claimed to have an army of 100,000 men and dozens of generals. The troops marched out of Baoxie Road and invaded Guanzhong.
When the news reached Chang'an, Cao Zhen frowned.
Not that I was shocked by the news.
Cao Zhen had already been prepared for Liu Bei's second Northern Expedition. After all, Liu Bei was not Sun Shiwan. The emperor was driving the expedition in person, so the noise would be huge. How could he be like Sun Shiwan, who would just say hello without saying a word? A sneak attack.
Even in Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition in history, Zhuge Liang did not send troops immediately after the dispatch list was made. Instead, he stationed troops in Hanzhong for a period of time. This period of time was enough for Cao Wei's detailed work to pass the contents of the dispatch list to Wei.
In fact, during Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition in history, Cao Wei knew about it, but he just didn't take it seriously.
In the state of the Shu Han Dynasty at that time, it had only been five years since the defeat of Yiling. Liu Bei also lost all the money he had finally saved in Yiling. Cao Wei did not believe that Zhuge Liang could not only clean up the country in just five years. At the end of the game, tens of thousands of elite soldiers can be trained.
So Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition was really a good opportunity. Unfortunately, Zhuge Liang used the wrong horse, causing everything to be lost.
But it's different now.
Liu Bei personally led the Northern Expedition this time, and Ji Han's family fortune was still there. Although a group of famous generals were old, they could still lead the army.
The last Northern Expedition allowed Liu Bei to occupy the Longshan Road and easily harvest the Yongliang two states. Now that Liu Bei is coming again, who dares to be careless? !
So Cao Zhen is really not worried about Liu Bei's Northern Expedition, but he is worried about where Liu Bei entered Guanzhong.
Before losing the northern part of Yongzhou, no matter which road Liu Bei takes out of Qishan, Cao Zhen has enough strategic space to maneuver. Even if he makes a mistake in the first time, Cao Zhen will have time to rely on Cao Wei's deep foundation and military superiority. Make adjustments so that Liu Bei will not threaten Chang'an.
But now the situation is completely different. Several counties in the northern part of Yongzhou are not in his hands. Once Liu Bei sends troops, he can enter the Guanzhong Plain at any time. The Guanzhong Plain is such a big place, how can he move around.
If he doesn't respond well, Liu Bei will approach Chang'an and attack the city.
There are only a few passages from Hanzhong into Guanzhong. Cao Zhen must deal with them without making any mistakes. Otherwise, if he does what he did last time and let the superior Meng Da and Kou Feng lead their troops into the Guanzhong Plain, it will be really troublesome. .
But now Cao Zhen also has his own difficulties.
During Liu Bei's last Northern Expedition, Cao Pi also guarded Chang'an. The most important thing is that Cao Pi also brought 100,000 Cao Wei's elite troops. Cao Wei had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength.
But now, Cao Pi is in Luoyang, and he only brings 50,000 elite central troops. The last time Cao Ren had 100,000 elite central troops to help, the battle was like that. He only has so few people on hand, God knows whether he can handle it.
Cao Ren has outstanding ability, rich experience, and many soldiers. He can adopt the strategy of fending off the enemy and fight Liu Bei in Yongzhou and Longshan. But Cao Zhen feels that he does not seem to have this condition now.
No matter how arrogant Cao Zhen is, he does not think that his ability has surpassed that of Cao Ren, let alone his experience in commanding an army.
Cao Zhen would not believe Liu Bei's exaggerated words of sending 100,000 troops and dozens of generals. All the roads in Qishan were difficult to navigate. If Liu Bei could pass through so many troops at once, Liu Bei would have already marched to Chang'an.
However, there should be 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers. It is not impossible to raise 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers with Yongliang. The total force is only 50,000. They have to be stationed at various key passes. The force is indeed insufficient. .
Cao Zhen thought about it. On the one hand, he hurriedly asked Cao Pi in Luoyang for help. On the other hand, he hesitated whether to lead his troops to resist continuously or to shrink his troops and concentrate on defending around Chang'an.
From a cautious attitude, Cao Zhen felt that he had insufficient troops, insufficient strategic space, the area that needed to be defended was too large, and the strategy of keeping the enemy at bay was no longer appropriate.
Therefore, Cao Zhen planned to change his strategy, shrink the defensive line, and only ask to defend Chang'an.
There is a saying that Cao Zhen's plan is actually the most troublesome response for Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei.
When it comes to attacking a city, it's still difficult to attack a strong city like Chang'an. The military advantage is only two to one.
When Cao Cao led his troops to capture the cities of Pi and Ye, he had an absolute advantage, and when the morale of the defenders in the city was not high, they fought for a year to conquer. How could Liu Bei have so much time and Food and grass to deal with it.
If Cao Zhen really shrinks his troops to defend Chang'an and asks Cao Pi to deploy the mobile Central Forbidden Army to defend Zuo Fengyi and Wancheng, Ji Han's poorly prepared Northern Expedition may end up in vain.
But at this time, Cao Zhen's teammate Cao Pi came online.
In fact, they can't be regarded as pig teammates, but the two sides have different ideas.
Cao Zhen made his judgment based on the actual situation in the Guanzhong Plain, while Cao Pi not only had to take into account the actual situation in Chang'an, but also the political impact.
If Liu Bei is allowed to come in and out of the pass so easily, not to mention the loss of troops and generals, God knows what will become of the people's hearts in the pass.
Another thing, Cao Pi's personal expedition this time was first beaten by Soochow in the eastern part of the Central Plains. The blow was like a star in his eyes. If Liu Bei was allowed to easily enter Guanzhong again, what confidence would he have to sit down in the position of emperor? !
Therefore, after Cao Pi received Cao Zhen's letter asking for help, he immediately sent 30,000 elite Chinese troops to Chang'an.
At the same time, accompanying the 30,000 elite Chinese troops to Chang'an was Man Chong and an edict from Cao Pi.
Cao Pi's edict was to Cao Zhen, telling Cao Zhen that he must do everything possible to prevent Liu Bei from entering Guanzhong.
As for Man Chong, in addition to bringing troops to support him, he was also sent by Cao Pi to explain the reasons to Cao Zhen and to counsel the military aircraft.
Although Cao Pi did what pig teammates did, he was not a pig in the end, and it was not easy to know Cao Zhen, so he asked Man Chong to go to Chang'an on his behalf to explain to Cao Zhen the reasons for his decision. He hoped that Cao Zhen could strengthen his determination and put Cao Zhen into the hands of Cao Zhen. Liu Bei blocked Guanzhong.
After hearing Man Chong's explanation, Cao Zhen just sighed.
What can you say? !
The emperor personally issued the edict, and he was afraid that you wouldn't understand it, so he sent an envoy to explain it to you. Can you still resist the edict? !
And to be honest, if Cao Zhen's surname is not Cao, it would be strange for Cao Pi to care what you think.
But since we want to prevent Liu Bei from entering Guanzhong, we must make a clear judgment on the direction of Liu Bei's troop dispatch. Otherwise, if we make a mistake in judgment, we may not even be able to recover the defense.
Fortunately, Cao Pi sent Man Chong, who was also a man of literary and military skills and experienced in military formation. With Man Chong as a staff officer, Cao Zhen felt a little confident.
After Man Chong took the time to understand the intelligence of the Shu army gathered in Chang'an, he did give some advice.
The first place that needs to be heavily guarded must be Baoxie Road.
After all, there are more than 10,000 Chen Dao troops stationed at Baoxie Road. From the most conventional point of view, the place where Liu Bei is most likely to send troops must be Baoxie Road.
Not only are there ready-made passages, but they can also hoard food and gather soldiers. If such a good advantage is not used, then Liu Bei will go on the Northern Expedition.
Therefore, Man Chong suggested that Cao Zhen strengthen the garrison and defense of the Wuzhangyuan area and not allow the Shu army to have enough time and strength to break through the first-line defense of Wuzhangyuan.
Anyone who is not a fool can see this, and Cao Zhen quite agrees with it.
Regardless of whether Liu Bei would regard Baoxie Road as his main attack direction, Baoxie Road had to be guarded against. He immediately sent 10,000 elite Forbidden Army troops to help defend Wuzhangyuan.
Secondly, as for Longshan Road, although it may also become Liu Bei's main attack direction, there is a Sanguan pass beyond Longshan Road. Cao Zhen also sent Sun Li to lead 5,000 troops to garrison Sanguan early.
Sanguan is a place with a dangerous terrain. One man can guard the pass and ten thousand men can't open it. Sun Li led 5,000 men to garrison. As long as there is no huge disparity in military strength, it shouldn't be a problem.
But even so, Man Chong still suggested that just in case, send another 5,000 people to Sun Li, and gather 10,000 people to defend. If Liu Bei wanted to leave Longshan Road to attack Sanguan, without 100,000 troops, there would be no way to capture it.
Obviously, it is impossible for Liu Bei to gather a hundred thousand troops in the northern part of Yongzhou, and the logistical pressure alone can overwhelm Liu Bei.
Third, Ziwu Road.
Ziwu Road is a rugged and difficult road. It is impossible for too many troops to pass through it at one time. At the same time, it is also extremely difficult to transport food and grass. But it has the advantage that it is very close to Chang'an. After leaving Ziwu Road, it is less than a hundred meters away from Chang'an. Li, only two or three days' march.
Although Man Chong and Cao Zhen didn't think Liu Bei would be so naive as to attack Chang'an through Ziwu Valley, they still had to defend what should be defended.
It doesn't take much, just send 3,000 people to guard the Ziwu Valley crossing.
The Ziwu Pass is very narrow and the terrain is very dangerous, making it unsuitable for large armies to fight.
As long as the Ziwu Pass is guarded, no matter how many troops Liu Bei comes, they will not be able to break through the Ziwu Pass.
There was no need to use the imperial army to come for reinforcements. Cao Zhen sent his own clan brother, Cao Ren's son Cao Tai, to lead the army to guard the entrance of Ziwu Valley.
This is not a place that requires a battle of wits and courage. Once someone comes, it is a place where you can easily make achievements. Cao Zhen sent Cao Tai there to take care of Cao's family.
As for the Tangluo Road, close to Zuo Fengyi, this place should be left to Zhang He.
Zhang He led 20,000 troops to garrison Zuo Fengyi to guard against Meng Da and Kou Feng. As soon as he came out of Tangluo Road, if he wanted to attack Chang'an, he would definitely pass Zuo Fengyi, so Zhang He could just take advantage of the situation and take a look.
With Zhang He's ability, it would not be easy for Liu Bei to break through as long as he didn't mess up.
As for the last Chen Cangdao, Cao Zhen was very hesitant.
Should Guo Huai lead the troops to guard Chencang Road and replace Xia Houmao?
(End of chapter)
