Actually, Liu Ye didn't need Liu Ye to help Cao Pi analyze what Soochow was thinking, and Cao Pi could figure it out himself.
Soochow is not stupid, and they do not want to take the risk of making Cao Wei a wedding dress by attacking Jingzhou.
You must know that attacking Jingzhou means the rupture of the alliance with the Shu Han. Not to mention that he has lost an external ally. If he fails to achieve his strategic goals again, the losses will be huge.
Therefore, it is actually understandable that Soochow proposed that Cao Wei send troops first to attract the attention of the main force of the Jingzhou Army.
On the one hand, doing this can indeed increase the success rate of backstabbing Jingzhou. On the other hand, it can force Cao Wei to express his position and make Shu Han fear the Wei-Wu alliance. Even after Soochow fails to capture Jingzhou, it will not completely follow Soochow. Fall out.
Anyway, just one sentence - Jingzhou Soochow wants it too, and Shuhan, Soochow doesn't want to completely offend.
This is what Cao Pi looked down on Soochow. The structure was too small.
With this situation in mind, are you still thinking of standing on a three-legged basis, or even going north to compete for the world? !
Being able to hold on to your one-third of an acre in Jiangdong is considered a blessing from God.
Therefore, Cao Pi actually looked down upon Sun Quan.
But looking down upon him, inciting Soochow to defect from the alliance and attack Jingzhou, for the Wei Dynasty, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Therefore, Cao Pi summoned Liu Ye and Jiang Ji to ask if there was any good way to attract the attention of the Xiangyang Jingzhou Army and complete the agreement with Soochow without using too many troops or consuming himself.
Well, this is actually not difficult.
Liu Ye suggested to Cao Pi that he could order Sima Yi to lead Wancheng's troops south to attack Deng County, which was occupied by Shu bandits.
If it can be defeated, it will be equivalent to rebuilding the previous barrier of Wancheng, and then rebuilding the three defenses according to the Wancheng defense system left by the late General Zhang Liao, which will at least be a good thing for defending the portal of Wancheng.
It doesn't matter if they can't defeat it. It's impossible for the Shu thieves not to know the importance of Deng County, so they will inevitably lead troops to rescue them. This objectively achieves the strategy of attracting Jingzhou soldiers to go north.
If this is not enough, you can also ask Wang Ling of Xuchang to lead troops to attack Xinye from the flank and cut off the connection between Nanyang County and Xiangyang County. If you are worried about insufficient troops, you can also urge them to pretend to be sick in Runan. Cao Xiu, who is more than a year old, has almost stopped being emotional and needs to exercise his muscles.
It's a good idea, but it sounds a bit strange to Cao Pi.
In order to support Jiangdong, would he have to mobilize his troops to attack Deng County and Xinye? What if he failed to control the situation and really fought in Jingbei? Wouldn't it be worth the loss? !
To put it bluntly, although Cao Pi wanted Soochow to stab Jingzhou on its back, he did not want to put too much effort into it. His strategic goal was always on the Guanzhong Plain.
Taking back Guanzhong is much more tempting than taking Xiangyang.
So, Cao Pi has been hesitant and undecided.
When Liu Ye saw this situation, he shut up and signaled Jiang Ji with his eyes.
Liu Ye overturned the idea he came up with in a blink of an eye. After all, he wanted to save face. Jiang Jilai had to do this.
As for Jiang Ji, he also understood Liu Ye's intention and immediately came forward with a suggestion - if we don't want to waste our troops and mobilize people, then let's make a show and put up an offensive posture in Wancheng and Xuchang, and the Shu thieves will do their best. After finding out, they must not be careless and will send reinforcements to support Deng County and Xinye.
In this way, we don't have to send troops, but we still achieve the goal of containing the Jingzhou Army, getting the best of both worlds.
Cao Pi was immediately overjoyed and decided to do it immediately.
Of course, regarding Soochow's statement, Cao Pi said that he would send troops from Wancheng and Xuchang to attack Jingbei and contain the Shu army. It doesn't matter whether the troops are actually sent or not, as long as Soochow sends troops.
But the problem is, Soochow is not stupid either. They don’t even need to see whether Cao Wei is sending troops. When the news came back to Soochow, Sun Quan immediately began to doubt it.
This Cao Pi, when did he become so easy to talk to and attack from two sides? If you had this ability, you would have marched into Xiangfan a long time ago. You still have to form an alliance with me and recognize the ownership of Qingxu Province in exchange for my attack on Jingzhou? !
This was agreed too quickly, which really made people groan.
For this reason, Sun Quan once again secretly summoned Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao to discuss the feasibility of entering the army.
But now it's time, the deployment of troops has been completed, and the preparation of military supplies and weapons has been completed. What's the point of being confused now? !
According to Zhou Yu, the arrow is on the string and must be fired.
Regardless of whether Cao Wei really sends troops to respond, Soochow must send troops immediately. Otherwise, once Jingzhou is prepared and adjusts its troop deployment, we may not get any benefits by relying on our small force for sneak attacks.
At this point, Zhang Zhao did not oppose Zhou Yu in a situation that anyone with a discerning eye could see clearly. Although Zhang Zhao is old, he is not an old fool.
The leaders of the civil and military forces under his command all said this, and Sun Quan immediately made up his mind to attack Jingzhou westward.
The troops were divided into two groups. One group was led by himself, and together with the four generals Zhu Ran, Ding Feng, Lu Fan, and Zhou Li, they invaded Jiangxia along the Yangtze River waterway.
The second route was led by Sun Sheng, together with Quan Cong, the governor of Changsha, and Lu Dai, the governor of Guiyang, to attack the two counties of Jingnan.
Zhang Zhao stayed in Jianye and assisted the crown prince Sun in overseeing the country, while Zhou Yu continued to recuperate at home.
Both armies are equipped with veterans and Mesozoic soldiers. It can be said that they have both hard work and experience. It can be said that there is no problem in the configuration of generals.
The only problem was probably that Sun Quan had to personally lead the troops to attack Jiangxia.
To be honest, there are some things to say, whether it is Zhou Yu or Zhang Zhao, due to their status, it is really difficult to say clearly - with Sun Shiwan's ability to lead troops, how can he expect to lead troops in war? !
Really, this is true, but neither Zhou Yu nor Zhang Zhao dared to say this in front of Sun Quan. They could only persuade Sun Quan tactfully that attacking Jiangxia was important, but only one general was needed to lead the army. However, there is no need for Sun Quan to lead the expedition in person.
Even the candidates have been selected for Sun Quan. Whether it is Lu Fan's qualifications or Zhu Ran's ability, they are both qualified to be the commander-in-chief of the First Army. Emperor Wu only needs to choose one person to appoint.
But Sun Quan didn't have this consciousness.
In Sun Quan's opinion, there is nothing wrong with his ability to command troops.
Ten years ago, he fought the Battle of Ruxu with Cao Cao. Facing Cao Cao's overwhelmingly superior force attack, didn't he command the soldiers in the same way, guard Ruxukou, and thwart Cao Cao's conspiracy to go south again after Red Cliff? !
After spending a little more time, I personally conquered Hefei. Although I experienced some dangers and was a little embarrassed by Zhang Liao, I finally captured Hefei. It was just that Cao Cao's reinforcements came too quickly, so I had to abandon Hefei. Just return to Jiangdong.
Where is my ability to lead troops failing? !
Another thing, now that the world is divided into three parts, the founders of the Three Kingdoms, whether Liu Bei or Cao Cao, are all monarchs, and they all have the experience of leading troops in battles. As the actual founder of the Wu Kingdom, I cannot be lower than others.
His father, Emperor Wu Lie, and his brother, Prince Huan of Changsha, were the kind of masters who would conquer the world immediately. When they came to me, they couldn't embarrass the old Sun family, right? !
Finally, and most importantly, according to Zhou Yu's plan, this attack on Jiangxia was to implement a strategy of attacking from the east and attacking from the west. The purpose was to attract the attention of the Jingzhou army to Jiangxia.
If you don't go on a personal expedition, how can you convince Wang Ji, Xu Shu, and even Guan Yu of Jingzhou that Jiangxia is the main direction of attack? !
If Lu Fan or Zhu Ran were only sent as commanders, even if there were more troops along the way, with Guan Yu's battle experience and Xu Shu and Wang Ji's resourcefulness, they would not necessarily relax their defenses against the two counties in Jingnan.
In this case, wouldn't it be possible to fall short of the success? !
However, it is different for him to go on a personal expedition. No one would have thought that a country's lord, personally conducting an expedition, would actually be a pretense.
It will be more confusing to conquer by yourself, and it will also allow the Jingzhou Group to fully support Jiangxia without any scruples, paving the way for the two counties in Jingnan to open up the situation.
In this way, Sun Quan used his own reasons to persuade Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao. In April of the second year of Jianxing of the Shu Han Dynasty, after the spring plowing ended, he suddenly sent troops from Chaisang and led his troops north to attack Jiangxia.
Because it was an undeclared war, Sun Quan's march went very smoothly. In one battle, he defeated Xia Pheasant and Jin Chun County. He moved up the river and approached Xiling County, which was governed by Jiangxia County.
Wenpin, the prefect of Jiangxia, looked gloomy when he heard the news.
On the one hand, an envoy was sent to Xiangyang to ask for urgent help. On the other hand, Wenpin was also thinking hard about how to retreat from the enemy.
But, it's not easy.
(End of chapter)
