After the Northern Expedition, Zhang Xi stayed in Chang'an for about ten days. After catching up with old friends, he left Chang'an in early July and returned to Jingzhou again.
This time, Zhang Xi did not need to go back to Jiangling. Instead, he went straight to Nanyang County and began to mobilize troops and generals, arrange grain and logistics, and prepare for the Northern Expedition.
In terms of public security, Shi Bao was still stationed in Lingyang County, threatening Wuling County and coordinating the command of the entire Han army south of the Yangtze River.
The police handed over Li Qiu's guard, and transferred Zhou Tai to Ying County to garrison, replacing Zhang Yi who was originally stationed there, and went north to report to Nanyang.
Jiangling was naturally guarded by Wang Ji, while Xiangyang was naturally guarded by Wenpin.
With these two people here, even if Soochow is lagging behind again, these two people are enough to withstand it. Zhang Xi can safely coordinate food and grass in Nanyang County, train soldiers, and prepare for the Northern Expedition.
And as Zhang Xi entered Nanyang, Sima Yi, who was in Guanzhong and gathered a large number of generals in Luoyang, couldn't sit still.
Cao Wei also deployed a lot of craftsmen in Guanzhong and Jingzhou. How could such a big movement on the Han side be hidden from a military master like Sima Yi?
Even without a military strategist like Sima Yi, Wang Chang, the prefect of Hongnong who was stationed at Tongguan, sensed something was wrong.
Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Pang Tong, Fazheng, Zhuge Liang, all of them gathered in Chang'an. If you say that the Shu thieves have not made any big moves, you won't even believe it.
Anyone with a little bit of military sensitivity can see that the Shu thieves are going to make a big move, but the real question is what big move the Shu thieves are going to make.
This requires sufficient strategic vision and correct strategic predictions.
In the entire Sili area, only Sima Yi has this ability, and the others are somewhat less interesting.
But now Sima Yi is also worried.
After more than a year of hard work, the number of troops in the Sili area was barely enough to spread out, but the combat power of the soldiers was really not comparable to before.
Not to mention compared with the imperial army when Cao Rui was in Luoyang, it is also incomparable with the previous county soldiers.
The main force of the Sili Army currently in Sima Yi's hands was selected from the garrison troops, and the selection ratio was almost two to one. It was really not a careful selection.
Besides, these days, if people who have land at home and can survive, will they become farmers? !
Most of the people who work as farm dwellers have no choice but to survive in these troubled times. They even have trouble eating. How can you expect these people's physical fitness to be any better? !
The soldiers selected from these farmers could not guarantee combat effectiveness. Even though Sima Yi had gathered enough people and distributed ordnance, the results of the training were still not ideal.
They don't even have 70% of the combat effectiveness of the original county soldiers.
Therefore, if possible, Sima Yi certainly hopes that the Shu thieves can come from Yingchuan County with open swords and guns, so that at least Sima Yi can still fight defensive battles and defend the city, using the help of city walls and city defense equipment as much as possible. Weakening the impact of insufficient combat power can also delay time and wait for reinforcements from Hebei County troops.
But can the Shu thieves be so obedient? !
Yes, looking at the overall situation, the Shu thieves launched an attack from the direction of Yingchuan County. They occupied Yingchuan County and then attacked Henan County. It can be said that they pushed forward all the way.
Although it is not the strategy with the best chance of winning, it is indeed the most stable and can be implemented in the long term.
Considering the personalities of Zhang Xi in Jingzhou and Zhuge Liang in Guanzhong, or their military tactics, Sima Yi also believed that there was a very high possibility that these two would use this method of warfare.
After all, the two men's military tactics put caution first, especially Zhang Xi, who was sometimes so cautious that he was suspected of delaying the opportunity to fight.
Therefore, according to Sima Yi's calculation, piling up heavy troops in Yingchuan County is the best way to deal with it now.
But Sima Yi always felt uneasy somewhere.
This was an intuition, and Sima Yi couldn't explain why, he just felt inexplicably uneasy.
But with this uneasiness, Sima Yi could not find a way for the Shu thieves to break into the Sili Heluo area from other directions.
As for Tongguan, Wang Chang was guarding the area. With a guard force of 10,000, it was not a problem to completely retreat the enemy, but with Wang Chang's ability, it would not be a problem to hold on for a year and a half.
It is impossible for the Shu thieves to have the confidence to besiege Tongguan for more than a year.
As for the Hedong area, that is where Sima Yi's hometown is. In this area, Sima Yi has already passed his family's relationship and reached an agreement with the Hedong aristocratic families, and still sides with Cao Wei.
After all, although the Shu Han's policy towards the aristocratic family is not unacceptable, the problem is that after all, it is not as tolerant as Cao Wei is now.
On the one hand, it is possible to maintain the status quo, but on the other hand, it means losing part of the profits. The Hedong family still knows very well what choice to make before the end of the road is reached.
As for the day when everything is over, I'm afraid even Sima Yi doesn't know what to do at that time. How can he expect that the Hedong family will change its family name?
Uh. This is getting too far.
In short, under the current situation, there is no need to worry too much about Hedong. Without the support of the aristocratic family, it is impossible for Shu thieves to cross the natural dangers of the Yellow River and enter the Hedong area.
As for Pubanjin, an important place, Sima Yi certainly would not be careless.
When Emperor Taizu Wu conquered the breakthrough point in Guanzhong, how could Sima Yi, a great military master, fail to see the importance of this.
Sima Yi not only arranged all the Yellow River naval forces here, but also arranged for his eldest son, Sima Shi, to lead 5,000 people to station here.
The number of troops seems small, but Pubanjin itself is not big and the terrain is dangerous. Five thousand troops are stationed there, which is enough.
But to be honest, Sima Yi was a little uneasy about Master Sima.
Mainly during the Battle of Wancheng, Sima Zhao's performance was too high, which caused Sima Yi to have serious doubts about his son's military level.
This time, Sima Zhao's poor performance even directly affected Sima Shi.
After all, they were all taught by the same father, and Sima Zhao's performance on weekdays is almost the same. In actual combat, Sima Zhao is so stretched. How can a Sima Master who is similar to him be any better? !
As for Sima Shi's performance in Wuguan, Sima Yi didn't take it seriously at all. The commander of Wuguan at that time was Guo Huai. With Guo Huai's ability to defend Wuguan, it was not a problem at all. Sima Shi's greatest contribution was just to help Guo Huai enter the pass. I can't tell what the actual military level is.
Therefore, in fact, Sima Yi was really worried about Sima Shishou Pu Banjin, but there was no way, he really had no one available.
Moreover, it is difficult to defend Pubanjin without the support of Hedong County behind him. If Sima Division goes to defend Pubanjin, the Hedong family will definitely give Sima Division the greatest support for Sima Yi's sake, and Pubanjin is dangerous. The terrain was enough for Sima Division to hold on for a while.
Yes, just hold on for a while and give yourself time to react.
Sima Yi thought about it and felt that he was uneasy. Perhaps his biggest worry was that he came from here. Now he had no choice but to choose to believe that his son could complete his mission.
The response was temporarily thought out, but based on the principle that if the enemy does not move, I will not move, Sima Yi still only started to hoard food and grass, and did not immediately start to deploy troops.
In case this is a tactic by the enemy to wear down their troops, it is better to be careful if they actually have an ulterior motive.
In this way, as both sides were preparing, time slowly passed and came to October.
In October, the autumn harvest was over, and Sima Yi's nerves were at their most tense.
If the Shu thieves really want to take action this year, it should be in the next month or two.
Sima Yi has begun to secretly mobilize troops. Except for the regular troops staying in Luoyang, soldiers from other counties have been secretly assembled by Sima Yi to prepare for the occurrence of war at any time.
Then the war really happened.
But, it is not in Luoyang, nor in Yingchuan, Hedong, but in Liaodong.
In the seventh year of the founding of the Han Dynasty, in the ninth month of the fifth year of Taihe in Cao Wei, Liaodong Gongsun Yuan claimed to be King of Yan, changed the Yuan Dynasty to Shaohan, appointed hundreds of officials, and rebelled.
A change of Yuan Dynasty and the establishment of hundreds of officials have already proved Gongsun Yuan's rebellious nature. This means that he wants to stand on his own feet.
In order to gain more support from external forces, Gongsun Yuan first ordered people to show loyalty to the Xianbei tribes and attracted Xianbei cavalry as foreign aid. Then he sent envoys to Soochow to seek an alliance with Soochow to fight against Cao Wei.
After hearing the news, Tian Yu, the governor of Youzhou in Cao Wei, immediately organized county soldiers to fight against the thieves in the shortest possible time, hoping to wipe out the rebellion directly when Gongsun Yuan had just raised his army and the situation was not favorable.
However, Tian Yu underestimated Gongsun Yuan's preparations for this rebellion, and Gongsun Yuan was not a fool. When he raised troops to rebel, he had already expected that Tian Yu would immediately send troops to encircle and suppress him, so he had already made the decision. Prepare.
Gongsun Yuan sent Bei Yan to lead 10,000 elite cavalry and 20,000 infantry to take the initiative. They met Tian Yu's crusade army unexpectedly at the Liao Tunnel, and the two sides started a fierce battle.
Tian Yu finally lost to Gongsun Yuan, who had been well prepared, and led his troops back to Youzhou. At the same time, he reported to the court for reinforcements.
Under such circumstances, the news slowly reached Sili, Guanzhong, and Jingzhou from the north over a month.
Could Zhuge Liang let go of such a good opportunity? !
He immediately swore an oath in Chang'an, led an army of 40,000 into Wuguan, joined Zhang Xi's 30,000 Jingzhou army, and officially launched the Northern Expedition.
At the same time, Wei Yan and Pang Tong led 10,000 elite Northern troops, and Huang Quan led 7,000 naval troops, advancing both by land and water, and secretly set out in the direction of Pubanjin.
The Fourth Northern Expedition has officially begun.
(End of chapter)
