The Han army in Guanzhong is brewing a counterattack from both directions.
But Runan County in Yuzhou, located in the Central Plains, now seems extremely peaceful.
Regardless of the fact that the vanguard of the Jingzhou Shu Army has now moved north to attack Nanyang County, Runan County seems not too far away from Nanyang County, but Cao Xiu really is not worried about the possibility of Nanyang County being lost.
Yes, Cao Xiu had always disliked Sima Yi, thinking that this man only relied on the support of the Hedong families to ride on him and become Governor Jing, the top leader of the two states of Henan. However, with Sima Yi's ability, Cao Xiu was more or less still. Somewhat understanding.
Without two brushes, could Sima Yi have been trusted by two consecutive generations of Wei emperors to entrust him with guarding Nanyang County, such an important gateway to the Central Plains? !
Facing the invasion of more than 40,000 Shu thieves, if Sima Yi could not defend Nanyang County, then...it would prove that Cao Xiu's impeachment was not wrong at all.
As for whether the Shu thieves would attack Runan County from east to west, Cao Xiu was not worried about this.
To send troops from Xiangyang to attack Runan, they must first bypass Xuchang, an important town in Yuzhou.
Xuchang is a place where Cao Wei has been running for decades, and it can be said that it is deeply rooted. Wang Yanyun, who guards Xuchang, is also a general who is familiar with military books and is both civil and military. With him guarding Xuchang, Shu thieves want to sneak up on Runan without his eyes. , basically impossible.
As for attacking Runan from the north of Jiangxia, let alone think about it. There is a Dabie Mountain across the way.
The marching and fighting of this era is not the same as that of later generations. No matter whether it is soldiers or generals in this era, no one can advance thousands of miles into the Dabie Mountains. Without the blessing of sufficient faith, no one can do this.
Not to mention, today's Jiangxia has just experienced the "fire of war", the Shu thieves have "retired" from Jiangxia, and Soochow has just occupied Jiangxia. Many things have not been straightened out. It is impossible to send troops from Jiangxia, bypass or cross in a short time. The Dabie Mountains are attacking Runan.
Therefore, Cao Xiu is really stable now.
But Cao Xiu didn't want such stability.
Cao Xiu has been stable in Runan for almost five years. If he continues to be so stable, the Emperor of Wei will probably forget that there is such a clan uncle like him.
Over the years, Cao Xiu kept writing letters to impeach Sima Yi. On the one hand, he really couldn't stand Sima Yi becoming his immediate boss and wanted to ask for power from the emperor. On the other hand, Cao Xiu did not mean to show his presence to the new emperor Cao Rui.
The two previous defeats brought Cao Xiu's reputation to the bottom. After returning from Shouchun's defeat, Cao Xiu couldn't figure it out and felt that Cao Pi was helping outsiders but not his own people, which made Cao Pi feel uncomfortable with Cao Xiu. decline.
Over the years, rather than saying that Cao Xiu stayed in Runan County and was unwilling to return to the capital, it is better to say that Cao Pi placed Cao Xiu in Runan and had no intention of recruiting him back to the court.
This situation was unacceptable to Cao Xiu.
Why was it that he, Cao Zidan, could rise to prominence and even become the assistant minister of Tuogu in the same defeat, but he had to be trapped in a county in Yuzhou and watch these Jiangdong rats? !
He, Cao Zidan, lost the two states of Yongliang. I only lost half of Huainan. I still occupy Runan County. I watched the Soochow soldiers in Huainan and didn't let them easily join forces with Qingxu's Soochow soldiers. .
Who lost worse? !
In the past, Cao Xiu complained in his heart, but seeing that Cao Zhen was also his younger brother, he didn't have any other ideas.
Everyone has lost the battle, and it is completely meaningless to compare who lost more miserably. No matter what Cao Xiu did, he still had this kind of tolerance.
But not anymore.
Now, Cao Zhen led the Central Plains elite troops to counterattack in two groups. One group penetrated deeply into Youfufeng, and was about to sweep the entire Youfufeng. The other group also trapped the main force of Shu thieves in Yongzhou, and was about to invade Chang'an. How could Cao Xiu sit still after regaining the three assistants in Guanzhong?
If Cao Zhen really leads the troops to regain Guanzhong and wash away the shame of his previous defeat, then Cao Xiu's position will be embarrassing and he will completely lose the opportunity to be reused by the emperor.
Even if you are not fighting for power, you should still fight for your reputation.
Therefore, Cao Xiu was also considering whether there was an opportunity to do something in the Huainan area, or even take the initiative to send troops to regain Huainan.
Huainan is a place that plays a decisive role in the current situation on the Eastern Front.
Soochow controls Huainan and can support Soochow's Qingxu Army through Huainan at any time. If Pengcheng is not stuck somewhere and allows Soochow to completely connect Qingxu and Huainan, Soochow will have the opportunity to completely threaten Yanzhou in the hinterland of the Central Plains. .
But also, because Pengcheng is stuck in the corner of the passage between Huainan and Qingxu, as long as Huainan can be recovered, the connection between the land of Qingxu and the land of Jiangdong can be basically cut off.
It is not impossible for Soochow to contact Qingxu in the future, but such contact can only rely on offshore boating. The efficiency is not a bit low, and the transportation of various ordnance supplies is also very unfavorable. The most important thing is that once Qingxu If a war breaks out, Jiangdong can only support Qingxu by water, which will seriously reduce the efficiency of support.
To put it bluntly, without Huainan playing the role of connecting Jiangdong and Qingxu in the middle, Qingxu would be basically an enclave for Jiangdong. It would be effortless for the Wei Dynasty to take it back.
Therefore, Huainan is really important. Cao Xiu has been trying to take back Huainan for so many years.
However, Cao Xiu thought so, but the Wei court did not think so.
The Wei court, from Cao Pi to Cao Rui, always focused on the Guanzhong area, because the Shu Han were Cao Wei's close enemies.
Cao Xiu did not deny this. He also knew that the foundation of the Shu Han and the Wei Dynasty was determined, and there was bound to be a life-and-death situation between the two countries. However, in recent years, the rats in Soochow have been busy developing, and their strength cannot be tolerated. Underestimated.
It was okay not to take Soochow seriously before. After all, Soochow had no cavalry and the infantry was weak in combat. It was okay to defend the city, but it was definitely no match for the Wei army in field battles and plains offensive battles.
For this reason, Cao Wei never paid attention to Soochow.
But now, according to Cao Xiu's observation, the Soochow soldiers in Huainan and other places have been practicing land warfare methods, trying to make the Jiangdong navy have the same excellent land warfare capabilities. Although the progress is slow, if it continues like this, Jiangdong will sooner or later become A scourge to the east of the Wei Dynasty.
Therefore, over the years, Cao Xiu has been insisting on petitioning the court, hoping to take the initiative to launch an attack on Soochow and interrupt the development rhythm of Soochow, but the court remained unmoved.
Cao Xiu was in a different place, and he didn't know what the court was thinking.
If we say that in other places, such as the impeachment of Sima Yi for being unworthy and the impeachment of Jia Kui for being incompetent, it was out of Cao Xiu's own selfish motives, but in terms of launching an active attack on Soochow, Cao Xiu really had no selfish motives.
But unfortunately, the court really couldn't understand his thoughts.
This is also Cao Xiu’s fault.
Cao Xiu's previous disobedience and disobedience of orders caused Cao Xiu's impression among Cao Pi to be very low. To put it bluntly, if it weren't for the serious decline in talent among the generals of the Cao clan, Cao Pi would have resigned Cao Xiu's military power long ago. Let him stay where he is to cool down.
As for Cao Rui, he had just succeeded to the throne less than three years ago and was still in the process of establishing his prestige, so he had no time to think about Cao Xiu's problem.
In addition, when Cao Rui became the prince, Cao Xiu had been guarding the Runan area. Cao Rui had not met Cao Xiu a few times in total, and his impression of Cao Xiu was largely influenced by Cao Pi.
Although Cao Rui was slightly more generous than Cao Pi, even Cao Rui would not easily accept the negative impact of Cao Xiu's disobeying the imperial edict.
Both emperors Cao Pi and Cao Rui did not give Cao Xiu the right to holiday, so this matter is different from Cao Zhen sending troops without authorization. Cao Xiu did not obey orders and relied solely on his surname Cao. He didn't even have an excuse. of.
Therefore, although Cao Xiu felt that he suggested launching an active attack on Soochow out of public motives, in the eyes of the two generations of monarchs Cao Pi and Cao Rui, this was still a way for Cao Xiu to try to gain military power.
Sima Yi wanted to guard Nanyang and could not leave easily, but Jia Kui and Cao Xiu did not get along. According to the tradition of the Wei Dynasty, there were few precedents for generals with foreign surnames to command clan generals in battle. Therefore, once a war started against Jiangdong, he would have no choice but to appoint Cao Xiu as the commander-in-chief. Let him be the governor of Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Pengcheng Military. This gave Cao Xiu great military power.
Anyway, Cao Rui didn't want to be like his father and experience another unpleasant and unpleasant experience. Therefore, Cao Xiu's so-called public spirit was just an excuse for Cao Xiu to demand more rights in disguise.
It’s weird to agree! ! !
This undoubtedly deepened Cao Xiu's depression and his eagerness to prove his abilities.
But although Cao Xiu always wanted a chance to prove himself, he never found such an opportunity.
Cao Xiu was arrogant, but as one of the few outstanding generals in the second generation of the Cao family, he still had basic military qualities. He knew that to start a war, you didn't just take the soldiers out for a walk.
All kinds of war preparations need to be made in advance. Logistics and supplies need to be arranged. March routes and attack plans need to be formulated. Possible reactions of the enemy must be predicted and corresponding plans must be formulated. And so on.
Therefore, if the imperial court does not agree, it will not have enough troops and logistical support, and it will be difficult to launch a campaign on its own.
Originally, Cao Xiu could only continue to be depressed like this, watching helplessly as Cao Zhen washed away his shame, became famous, and became a marquis and prime minister.
However, there was a but. Cao Xiu suddenly received good news.
Zhou Li, the general of Eastern Wu who was stationed in Dangtu County, could not bear Sun Quan's suspicion and demotion, so he offered his city to the Wei Dynasty.
Cao Xiu suddenly felt that his opportunity had come.
(End of chapter)
