Xiahou Shang did not have any conflict with Cao Zhen. He actually conveyed to Cao Zhen the urgent military information of the Shu army's reinforcements, so that Cao Zhen would be ready to support Tongguan at any time.
However, on the emperor's side, Xiahou Shang had to write a letter to explain the situation - why he had already led his troops to rescue Tongguan and still stayed in Tongguan without returning.
Don't forget, Xia Houshang is the general who protects the army. His duty is to protect the emperor's central army, and the Central Forbidden Army he leads is the last Forbidden Army around Cao Rui.
It would be impossible not to tell the emperor if he went out to fight with such an army and was stranded without returning.
But the problem is, when Xia Houshang reported this, Cao Rui was shocked when he received the battle report.
I had just received Cao Zhen's request for a memorial two days ago. When I learned that Cao Zhen had given up the 90,000 infantry and cavalry coalition, only 25,000 people were left. Cao Rui almost couldn't catch his breath at that time.
If Cao Rui wasn't still young and had much better physical fitness than his father, he would probably have a black eye.
It's fine now. Before the results of the previous battles were digested, Xiahou Shang brought him bad news again.
Cao Zhen made another wave, but finally returned to the pass with tens of thousands of soldiers. Tongguan was lost and recovered, and the barrier of the Sili area was finally preserved.
Now Xiahou Shang sent an urgent battle report, saying that the Shu bandits gathered 60,000 troops to attack Tongguan, but Xiahou Shang only had 10,000 men to garrison Tongguan. If Tongguan fell again, Cao Rui would really have to consider whether to move back to Yecheng.
Cao Rui quickly ordered people to find Liu Ye and Chen Qun and ask them for advice.
It's not that Cao Rui doesn't have a response plan, it's that the overall situation is very complicated now.
The situation in Wancheng was also very tense. Sima Yi received a letter asking for help almost every three days, hoping that Cao Rui would send reinforcements to Wancheng as soon as possible.
Cao Rui did send an edict to Cao Zhen after Cao Zhen returned to the pass, hoping that he would lead his troops to Wancheng to rescue Sima Yi as soon as possible after the rest.
But Cao Rui also knew that the morale of Cao Zhen's troops who had returned to the pass was low and their combat effectiveness was worrying, so he gave Cao Zhen ten days to rest and reorganize his troops.
But now, Tongguan is also in a hurry. If Cao Zhen leads his troops to support Wancheng, who will support Tongguan? !
As long as Cao Rui can mobilize enough troops, Cao Zhen will not have to go around in such a big circle to support Wancheng.
Therefore, Cao Rui now needs to make a choice whether to save Wancheng or Tongguan.
This is not a decision that Cao Rui can make by himself. Cao Rui must seek the opinions of important officials in the court.
Now in Luoyang, the only people in Luoyang who have certain military and strategic capabilities and can represent the opinions of important ministers in the court are Chen Qun and Liu Ye. Sun Zi and Liu Fang are in charge of government affairs all year round, so they can't get in the way.
Cao Rui still knew very well what people to ask about what matters.
But the problem is that Liu Ye and Chen Qun are a little unsure about such a big matter.
The battle report from Sima Yi in Wancheng was very serious.
The Shu bandits' 90,000 Jingzhou troops besieged Wancheng. After nearly a month of siege and hard work, the number of Wancheng's defenders had dropped from 30,000 before the war started to about 20,000.
With one-third of the casualties, Wancheng has reached a critical moment. If there are not enough reinforcements to go to Wancheng to support, if the casualties continue like this, the morale of the Wancheng defenders will collapse sooner or later.
As for Wuguan, according to the joint report of Sima Yi and Guo Huai, the Shu thieves gathered 40,000 troops outside Wuguan Road. However, due to the narrowness of Wuguan Road, they could not actually enter Wuguan Road to station. The Shu thieves who attacked Wuguan only had 40,000 troops. With more than 10,000 troops, this force was not enough to pose a substantial threat to Wuguan, which was garrisoned by 7,000 to 8,000 Wei troops.
Therefore, the crux of the problem still lies in Wancheng.
Once Wancheng is lost, Wuguan will be cut off from the Central Plains, losing the value of continuing to hold on. If Wancheng is there, Wuguan will be there, but once Wancheng is lost, Wuguan cannot be defended.
At that time, not only will the hinterland of the Central Plains be opened wide, but it will even face an invasion by more than 100,000 Shu thieves.
Therefore, the earlier plan was to let Cao Zhen rest and reorganize the remaining Sili troops under his command, and then let Cao Zhen directly lead the troops to support Wancheng.
As long as Wancheng is not lost, Sili's safety is sufficiently guaranteed.
But now, the Shu bandits at Tongguan have also increased their troops, and they have increased their troops by 30,000 at once.
If this news is true, then Tongguan will also face the risk of being breached.
And once Tongguan is breached again, the Shu thieves don't even need to circle around Wancheng to attack Luoyang. They only need to cross Hongnong County and Luoyang will be in front of them.
The terrible thing is that now Cao Rui can no longer use any troops to stop him.
Well, at least all the official troops have been dispatched. As for the private recruitment of troops, it has not been very smooth.
This is the dilemma they are facing now, and both Liu Ye and Chen Qun are seriously thinking about how to deal with it.
Liu Ye thought for a long time and first said, "Although the Shu thieves occupy the land of the four states, Liangzhou is barren. Thirty thousand soldiers and horses entering the pass to fight is already the limit. Yongzhou has been newly established for less than ten years, and Dingkou has not been attached. More than 40,000 It makes sense for the county soldiers to come from where did the Shu thieves mobilize these 30,000 elite soldiers?!"
Liu Ye immediately expressed doubts about the strength of the Han army.
Mainly the total strength of all Han armies. If the frontline battle reports are correct, the total strength is too much.
In the direction of Wancheng, according to Sima Yi, the strength of Jingzhou soldiers is 90,000, which is outrageous. Do the Shu thieves not want Jingzhou? ! Do you really think Sun Quan is a gentleman who honors his word? !
As for Wuguan, if Guo Huai had not lied about the military situation, the 40,000 Shu thieves should have included Yizhou County soldiers.
So the question is, judging from all the current information, the Shu thieves have gathered 200,000 troops and come out. Where did the Shu thieves gather the 30,000 troops to support Tongguan? !
Based on the number of soldiers in Shu, if they want to support these 230,000 soldiers and horses, even by the standard of military warfare, they will need at least 3 million soldiers. But in reality, there is no population of 5 million and they cannot support so many soldiers. People. The development of Shu thieves has been rapid in recent years, but with so many soldiers and horses, they are basically the strength of the whole country, right?
It would be difficult for 10,000 more people to come out, let alone 30,000 more people to be conjured out of thin air at once? !
Well, even if the Shu thieves launched a nationwide mobilization and organized some common people to serve as cannon fodder, what about food, grass and weapons? !
With the size of Shu's economy, if it can support an expedition of more than 200,000 people, how long can food and grass last? !
Therefore, Liu Ye suspected that either the 30,000 reinforcements from the Shu thieves were fake and a bluff, or that the Shu thieves' attack could not be sustained for a long time. As long as they could hold on for a month or two, the Shu thieves would run out of food. And retreat.
Liu Ye's suspicion was very reasonable. He basically saw Zhuge Liang's strategy in Tongguan, and his analysis was quite accurate.
But Chen Qun expressed his opposition.
Chen Qun thought that if the Shu thieves really wanted to go all out in force and mobilize the whole country, they would be able to gather 30,000 people in Yongzhou.
After all, it is not impossible to gather the people together and distribute some simple ordnance to serve as cannon fodder for sieges.
Chen Qun agreed with Liu Ye's judgment and believed that it would be difficult for the Shu thieves to gather 30,000 trained county soldiers, but it was not impossible to get 30,000 civilians to serve as cannon fodder to attack Tongguan.
Although cannon fodder will not be of much help in siege, it can still be done by consuming the Wei army's defensive equipment. According to Xiahou Shang's battle report, Tongguan is now lacking everything, especially arrows and crossbows, which are key to defending the city.
Food and grass can be transferred from Hongnong County to support Tongguan, but the ordnance in stock in Hongnong County cannot even supplement Cao Zhen's 25,000 troops, let alone Tongguan.
The defense weapons must be sent from Luoyang, and this will take time.
Therefore, Chen Qun believes that although these 30,000 people are most likely to be a mob, the threat to Tongguan still exists. Therefore, it is still necessary to consider the possibility of Tongguan being lost.
Two people, two opinions, but if they don't say it, how to deal with Cao Rui next is going to make his head explode.
Did Emperor Taizu Wu face such subordinates back then? Emperor Taizu Wu was indeed a wise and mighty hero.
Anyway, Cao Rui doesn't have much experience in subordinates who only do analysis and need to make decisions by themselves. After all, in usual government and military affairs, whoever raises a problem will have a solution attached. Cao Rui can adopt it if he thinks it is feasible.
It's better now. Everyone under him can only refute each other's opinions, but they just don't give solutions. What can Cao Rui do? !
Fortunately, Cao Rui is still a man of his own opinion. In the face of Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition in history, the ministers also argued fiercely but had no practical countermeasures. In the end, Cao Rui personally made the decision, and the imperial commander came to Chang'an to encourage him. Military morale.
Now, Cao Rui has also made his own decision.
Since both Liu Ye and Chen Qun believed that the Tongguan side was dying because they had an extra 30,000 mob, they ordered the inner government and county guards and county magistrates to cooperate closely and rush to send the weapons needed to defend Tongguan as soon as possible.
As for Cao Zhen, he immediately issued an edict, urging Cao Zhen to end his rest and lead troops to support Wancheng.
Compared to Tongguan, Cao Rui chose Wancheng first.
After all, if Tong Pass is broken, there will still be Hangu Pass that can delay the time. But if hundreds of thousands of Shu thieves are allowed to break through Wancheng and rush into Sili in one fell swoop, relying on the 10,000 soldiers from Yingchuan County, There is no way to stop so many Shu thieves! ! !
Therefore, reinforcements from Wancheng are even more urgent.
(End of chapter)
