Zuo Fengyi, in Linjin County.
"What are the movements of the Shu thieves?!"
Cao Zhen, the new general who was the governor of Yongliang in the Great Wei Dynasty, stared at the map of Guanzhong in front of him and asked the Tongguan garrison and general Wang Chang who stood below him.
"Shu General Zhang Xi has led his troops into Chongquan and deployed defenses on the spot. He has no intention of marching eastward yet." Wang Chang answered the questions he knew honestly.
Upon hearing this, Cao Zhen smiled slightly, looked at an old man dressed as a scribe beside him, and said, "This Zhang Yuanchang is still so cautious. But it's okay."
The old man also smiled slightly and said to Cao Zhen, "Zhang Xi is cautious in success and cautious in failure. If Zhong Da is a great talent, he can actually understand the wonders of people's hearts."
Cao Zhen's expression changed slightly, he really couldn't bear to hear the old man praising that Sima Yi.
But the old man's status was unusual, and Cao Zhen couldn't offend him. In addition, some of Cao Zhen's actions required the old man's endorsement. Therefore, Cao Zhen couldn't show his face to the old man. He could only force himself and then turn around. , ordered Wang Chang, "General Wang, order the three armies to set up defenses on the spot. They are not allowed to advance westward without orders. Anyone who violates the rules will be killed immediately."
Wang Chang looked at Cao Zhen, then at the old man beside Cao Zhen, and finally accepted the promise without saying a word.
After Wang Chang left, Cao Zhen adjusted his attitude slightly, turned to look at the old man, put on a smile, and said, "Situ Gong is far away, but has His Majesty's decree been conveyed?!"
Wang Lang still smiled, shook his head, and said, "The Governor is your Majesty's beloved general. Even if Your Majesty has a decree, you can go directly to the Governor. Why do you need me to convey it on your behalf? I am here to assist the Governor in regaining the lost territory in Guanzhong according to your Majesty's will." "
Wang Lang's words finally made Cao Zhen feel a little relieved.
In fact, this time Cao Wei suddenly came out to counterattack, which was really a bit special.
This is not a large-scale counterattack ordered by Cao Rui, but Cao Zhen's own initiative! ! !
Just as the Han Dynasty was not fully prepared for the Northern Expedition, Cao Wei was not fully prepared for the counterattack.
Although in April, after the Wei court meeting, the strategy of counterattacking Guanzhong was established, and Cao Rui decreed that Cao Zhen be appointed as the general and the governor of Yongliang, during the holidays, the prime minister counterattacked the Guanzhong war.
However, to launch a comprehensive counterattack against Guanzhong and even Yongliang, Cao Wei also had to make a lot of preparations. Not only did he have to prepare enough food and grass, he also needed to mobilize county soldiers from various places and change the defense layout. This could not be completed in three months. of.
Therefore, Cao Wei's expectation is to launch a counterattack on Guanzhong after the autumn harvest in September, and the goal is not set too high. It is unthinkable to take back Yongliang. As long as Guanzhong can be taken back, it can be temporarily stopped. The soldiers stopped fighting in preparation for the coming day.
However, in mid-July, when the Soochow and Shu bandits turned against each other, the news that Zhou Yu, the governor of Soochow, personally led troops to "capture" Jiangxia County reached Luoyang. After Cao Zhen, who was preparing a counterattack plan at Hangu Pass, learned about it, he immediately reported to the court and requested to send troops. Counterattack underway.
In Cao Zhen's view, this was a very good opportunity to send troops.
Of course, Cao Zhen could not know about the private agreement between the Han and Soochow. When he saw Zhou Yu personally attack Jingzhou and capture Jiangxia County in one fell swoop, he naturally thought that this was a precursor to another war between the Han and Soochow.
The importance of Jingzhou to Shu thieves cannot be unknown to a commander of Cao Zhen's level. Once Soochow invades Jingzhou, Shu thieves will definitely try their best to protect Jingzhou. At least the two important strategic nodes of Jiangling and Xiangyang must not be lost.
To put it mildly, the Shu bandit Jingzhou Army must make every effort to prevent Soochow from continuing to advance westward. It is no longer possible to pose a threat to Nanyang in northern Jingbei and Xuchang in Yuzhou.
Speaking more broadly, if the two sides continue to increase their troops and fight fiercely, it is very likely to trigger a large-scale battle no less than the Battle of Chibi to decide the ownership of Jingzhou. In order to defend Jingzhou, the Shu thieves will inevitably mobilize troops from Shu to support Jingzhou, and As for Soochow, they will inevitably transfer their main forces to the west to compete with the Shu thieves for Jingzhou.
If we really want to fight to that point, then the Shu thieves' Guanzhong, Soochow's Huainan and Qingxu will be affected, and they will no longer pose any threat to the Wei's borders.
Cao Zhen would not care about what was happening to the east. That was something Sima Yi and Jia Kui needed to worry about. Cao Zhen only cared about whether his plan to counterattack Guanzhong could be implemented, so that he could avenge his shame.
Now is a very good opportunity to send troops. The Shu thieves do not have the ability to fight on two fronts. Once the war in Jingzhou starts and the Shu thieves support Jingzhou, the time will be ripe for their own counterattack.
This is the real reason why Cao Zhen wrote to Cao Rui, requesting to send troops.
However, Cao Rui did not approve.
First, it is because the preparations for Wei's counterattack have not been fully completed, and the most important military food reserves have not been fully deployed. If the troops are sent now, they will only be able to fight for three months at most, and they do not have the combat capability for long-term confrontation.
Second, it was because Sima Yi, who was in Wancheng, also wrote a letter to Cao Rui, expressing his concern about Wu Shu's rebellion.
In Sima Yi's opinion, the rebellion between Wu and Shu was a bit too sudden.
Yes, the Lord of Wu is capricious and betrayal is common, but the Shu thieves endured the back-stabbing twice, which shows that the Shu thieves have always been very tolerant towards Soochow.
What the reason is, Sima Yi still sees clearly, is not how generous the Shu thieves are, nor how idiotic the Shu thieves' top leaders are, but simply that the current strength of the Shu thieves is not enough to support them to turn against Wei and Wu at the same time.
In addition, although Wu and Shu had not formally reconciled the betrayal of their alliance some time ago, envoys between the two sides had frequent exchanges. The attitude shown by Sun Quan, the leader of Wu, was also more inclined to cooperate with the Shu thieves, and Not to unite with Wei Dynasty.
Under such circumstances, it was unreasonable for Wu State to suddenly launch an attack and conquer Jiangxia County in a short period of time.
Another one, the last time Wu State took advantage of the situation to launch a sneak attack, Sun Quan led the superior force, divided the troops into two groups, and attacked Jingzhou from the east to the west. However, he was still blocked in the southern part of Jiangxia County. The battle in Jingnan did not achieve any benefits, and was even almost defeated. The people counterattacked into Changsha County. Why did they succeed so easily in attacking Jiangxia County this time? !
Even if the person leading the army is Zhou Yu, he won't have to go out so much, right? !
Wenpin was able to use inferior troops to hold back Sun Quan in the last Soochow backstab attack. This time, with almost equal troops, Zhou Yu was defeated and fled, without the ability to fight back? !
And the most suspicious thing is that after such a defeated battle, the battle reports after reaching the Northland, the reports on the battle damage were very vague and contradictory.
The difference between the detailed operations arranged in Jingzhou and Soochow and the intelligence returned can be said to be worlds apart.
The intelligence from the Soochow side stated that more than 20,000 Jiangxia naval forces were defeated this time and more than 300 Jingzhou warships were burned. However, the Jingzhou intelligence said that although Wenpin was defeated, he brought three soldiers with him. Xia soldiers from thousands of rivers merged with Meng and rushed back to Xiangyang with more than 200 ships. The losses in troops and warships were not great.
Therefore, Sima Yi suggested that it is best not to have too big a reaction to the war between Wu and Shu before knowing whether the intelligence is true or false.
If it is false, if we stand still and let me take the lead, Wei will not suffer any losses.
Even if it is true, sitting back and watching the two countries fight to the death while Wei chooses the opportunity to react is the most beneficial choice for Wei.
Cao Rui thinks that what Sima Yi said makes sense. Although this man has selfish motives, his strategic vision is indeed excellent. No wonder the late emperor used him so highly.
However, Cao Zhen ignored Cao Rui's proposal, and Cao Rui couldn't refuse it directly.
Therefore, Cao Rui wrote a special letter to Cao Zhen, explaining Sima Yi's concerns to Cao Zhen, and hoping that Cao Zhen would wait a little and act according to the opportunity.
Cao Zhen didn't think anything of it when he received Cao Rui's private message, but after reading the content of the letter, Cao Zhen was really angry.
It’s this damn Sima Yi again! ! !
During the initial court meeting, Sima Yi obstructed his counterattack plan. Finally, when he saw that the general trend was achieved, he gave up and pretended to agree.
Don't think that Cao Zhen doesn't understand what this old boy has in mind.
This old boy is based in Nanyang and is in charge of the affairs of Jingzhou and Henan. Now that there is a war in Jingzhou, he is naturally willing to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. When the Shu and Wu families are both defeated, he will send troops from Wancheng to gain benefits.
Not to mention recovering the entire Jingzhou, it is not impossible to attack Xiangyang City or even directly recover Xiangyang.
At that time, not to mention Sima Yi's meritorious service in regaining the old land, the grain and grass prepared to regain Guanzhong may also be taken advantage of by this old boy.
What else can I rely on to regain Guanzhong? !
For this reason, Cao Zhen immediately wrote a letter to the emperor, revealing Sima Yi's entire conspiracy. At the same time, he asked the emperor to seriously consider whether to counterattack Jingzhou or counterattack Guanzhong.
The plan to counterattack has been prepared for three months, and all measures are centered around the preparations for counterattack.
The counterattack on Jingzhou was just a temporary move. No matter how good he was, Sima Yi had no chance of breaking through Xiangfan's defense system. Should he really give up a half-implemented strategy and instead gamble on such an immature strategy? !
Cao Zhen thought that after his letter was sent to Luoyang, Cao Rui would make an easy choice.
But Cao Zhen himself didn't expect that he waited for ten days and still didn't get Cao Rui's reply.
This is unscientific. From Hanguguan to Luoyang, it only takes seven or eight days to go back and forth. If it is urgent, it can take six days to go back and forth. Due to the serious military situation, Cao Rui did not reply to Cao Zhen for ten days. Basically it means that he is unwilling to reply to Cao Zhen.
This also means that Cao Rui made a choice between Cao Zhen and Sima Yi.
But this was unacceptable to Cao Zhen.
Therefore, Cao Zhen gritted his teeth and relied on his surname Cao and his right to govern Yongliang to give orders to Guo Huai and Wang Chang.
Send troops to counterattack! ! !
(End of chapter)
