The Luoyang War was becoming increasingly unfavorable to the Wei army.
Sima Yi didn't know how long he could hold on. Of course, Sima Yi didn't have the determination to live or die with Luoyang City. This old fox was the person who cherished his life the most. He didn't have the determination to sacrifice everything for the Wei Dynasty.
Therefore, in fact, Sima Yi had already begun to consider where his retreat was at this time.
If he can still hold on now, of course Sima Yi will continue to choose to hold on, but if he can't hold on, Sima Yi has actually considered whether to lead troops to break out from the east gate and retreat to Hulao Pass to watch the development of the situation.
With Hulao Pass in hand and the arrival of a large number of reinforcements from General Cao Zhen, even if Luoyang is temporarily lost, there may not be no chance of regaining it.
As for his two sons, Sima Yi also planned an escape route for them. He contacted the Hedong family, prepared ships, and evacuated across the Yellow River from Mengjin Ferry, stationed in Hanoi County to prevent Shu thieves from crossing the river.
If the two counties of Hedong and Hanoi are still in their hands, the land of Heluo will not be completely lost. Even if they come before the emperor in the future, even if they have to be held accountable, at least they will not lose their lives.
This is the escape route Sima Yi planned for himself.
However, it is not needed for the time being. After all, we can continue to hold on.
Of course, at this time, Sima Yi still had some extravagant hopes. He hoped that before he could not defend Luoyang, the Shu thieves would be unable to bear the losses in the back and withdraw their troops to save Jingzhou. Although it was a bit embarrassing to defend Luoyang in this way, it was still a good thing after all. Defended.
But Soochow is really not powerful at all.
Where did your ability to beat Cao Xiu in Huainan go? Facing an empty Jingzhou, you actually fought for so long without defeating him? !
Wu Gou is indeed incompetent, Sima Yi complained in his heart.
At this time, the Soochow troops, who were severely criticized by Sima Yi, were still struggling in Jingzhou.
Zhang Cheng had already been in the water battle at Hanjin Crossing. Wenpin seized on the flaw in his command and defeated him in one fell swoop. He recaptured Hanjin Pass. Zhang Cheng led the remaining Soochow navy to retreat to Xiakou.
As for Wenpin, he did not dare to let his navy soldiers abandon the ship and land, and tried their best to rescue Jiangling.
There is no other reason. Although Zhang Cheng was defeated, the main force of Jiangxia Navy in Soochow did not suffer much loss. Now he led his army to retreat to Lukou. Once Wenpin ordered the navy to abandon ship and land, Zhang Cheng could lead his army back.
At that time, the Xiangyang navy that had landed ashore would no longer be able to compete with the Soochow navy on the water.
Wenpin had no choice. He couldn't directly lead his troops south to attack Xiakou, which was the headquarters of the Soochow Navy. It would be very risky to kill so rashly.
Therefore, Wenpin could only choose to build a water stronghold at Hanjin Ferry to threaten other counties in Jiangxia and contain Zhang Cheng's main naval force.
The war on the southern front is still stalemate. As for the navy, Zhu Ran is gradually clearing up the Jiangling Navy Zou Ke on the periphery of the Turtle Formation step by step. He wants to use this water-based method to solve the Jiangling Navy.
But it will take time.
Lu Dai was still in a stalemate with Shi Bao in Liangyang, unable to break through Liangyang City in a short time.
Sun Sheng, who was the most promising, led 30,000 Dongwu Army troops and arrived in Ying County. But the march was slow.
The roads are too muddy and difficult to walk on, and it is also difficult to transport troops, food and ordnance.
By the time Sun Sheng finally arrived at the outskirts of Ying County, Ying County defender Zhou Tai had already received 5,000 reinforcements allocated by Wang Ji. Now there were 8,000 defenders in the entire Ying County.
Actually, at the beginning, Wang Ji really didn't want to completely block the Soochow Army's invasion in Ying County.
Although both Zhang Xi and Wang Ji were prepared for the invasion of the Soochow Army, the main operational idea was to actively gather their troops and let the Soochow Army enter Jiangling County step by step. Finally, in Jiangling City, they relied on the strong Jiangling City Defense. , fight a defensive battle.
Therefore, in the direction of Ying County, although Zhou Tai was arranged to garrison, the initial purpose of the operation was to allow Zhou Tai to hold on as long as he could. If he couldn't hold on, he would withdraw to Jiangling. It was purely to delay time.
But now, with the light rain falling in Jingxiang, Wang Ji, who realized that the weather was favorable to him, immediately changed his mind and gritted his teeth and transferred 5,000 soldiers from Jiangling to support Ying County.
It is better to fight a blocking battle in Ying County than to fight a defensive battle in Jiangling. After all, Jiangling is the center of county governance. Outside the city is also the largest arable land gathering area in Jiangling County. Fighting here is very detrimental to tax revenue. of.
What Wang Ji didn't expect was that in addition to Tianshi cooperating with him, his opponent would also cooperate with him. The person leading the army to attack Ying County was no longer the famous general Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu returned to Jianye to recuperate due to illness. The current leading general was It was replaced by Sun Sheng.
The pressure is much less now.
If Zhou Yu leads the army, Wang Ji will still have to worry. With Zhou Yu's ability, Zhou Tai may not be able to defend Ying County. But if it were Sun Sheng, then Wang Ji really wouldn't worry.
And Sun Sheng really lived up to Wang Ji's trust. After Fei Jinbala's army arrived in Ying County and launched only one attack, Sun Sheng set up camp thirty miles outside Ying County without moving. .
It's not that Sun Sheng doesn't want to fight, it's that he can't fight.
From the time the troops stopped advancing in Huarong County to the time they marched to the outskirts of Ying County, the soldiers of the Soochow Army had been wetted by rain for almost half a month.
It was okay when we were in Huarong County. At least there was a county seat and houses to take shelter from the rain. But in the past ten days or so, the army has been marching in the rain. When they camped in the wild at night and slept, they all felt wet. .What's the point of going on like this?
The morale in the army is quite low.
Although Sun Sheng has not experienced the second Battle of Ruxu, Sun Sheng is not the kind of general who lacks common sense. In such a drizzle environment, not only is it not conducive to combat, but it also has a great impact on the morale of the army. .
Even if being exposed to the rain for a long time causes a large-scale typhoid fever in the army, or even causes a plague, then the problem will be huge.
Under this situation, Sun Sheng did not dare to launch an attack on Ying County easily. He could only report to Wu Zhizun and seek advice from Wu Zhizun on whether to continue the attack or withdraw his troops to protect himself.
Among the clan generals who could be promoted and reused by Sun Quan, Sun Sheng still had some ability. After all, Sun Quan still had a good eye for people.
Under this situation, Sun Sheng knew that continuing to use troops would not bring good results.
But the problem is that Sun Quan doesn't allow it.
If you just retreat like this, you won't achieve any goal, but you will waste money and food. Where do you want Sun Quan to put his face? !
Therefore, Sun Quan strictly ordered Sun Sheng to capture Ying County as soon as possible and attract the Shu thieves to return to the army to save themselves.
Sun Sheng is not Zhou Yu, and the army does not have that many independent rights. Since Sun Quan has asked so, what can Sun Sheng do? Just bite the bullet and attack.
However, the offensive effect is really poor. Who would be willing to go into battle in drizzling weather?
The Shu army has cities to defend, people, fields and property to protect, so they have to fight. Do you expect ordinary soldiers to understand the so-called "strategic intentions" of the big shots in Soochow? !
During this battle, Sun Sheng felt like he was like a stupid pig. But he had to fight.
With the war at this point, it is already very difficult for Soochow to advance towards Jiangling. Therefore, Sima Yi's hope that Soochow can give more strength is purely out of the blue.
On the Jingzhou side, it was difficult for Soochow to advance, but on the Heluo side, the Han's Northern Expeditionary Army attacked Luoyang, but it went smoothly.
This success does not mean that the army has invaded Luoyang, but that after more than ten days of offensive, the Northern Expeditionary Army has been able to pose a substantial threat to the city wall of Luoyang.
In other words, there has been a phenomenon of climbing on the city tower and fighting for the city wall.
Although Sima Yi easily repelled the small force that climbed up the tower and blocked the gap again through commanding on the spot, this also meant that the Wei army could no longer completely defend the city wall by relying on conventional methods.
The important factor that caused this result was that the troops in Sima Yi's hands were once again reduced.
The original garrison of 14,000 people was reduced to only about 10,000 people after more than ten days of siege by the Han army.
Seeing that January had not yet reached the end of the month, 30% of the defenders in Sima Yi's hands had been damaged in battle.
At this point, both Sima Yi and Xin Pi knew that Luoyang City would definitely not survive until February.
Under this situation, Sima Yi gritted his teeth and went to Xinpi to seek Xinpi's consent to abandon Luoyang City and retreat to Hulao Pass.
Sima Yi had to do this, because Xin Pi also had the right to control the entire army with restraint.
If Sima Yi ordered the withdrawal of troops without Xin Pi's consent, and Xin Pi insisted on holding on to Luoyang and deprived himself of military power, Xin Pi would have the ability to do such a thing.
Therefore, Sima Yi found Xinpi privately and wanted to use this kind of temptation to get Xinpi to agree to abandon Luoyang.
Sima Yi originally prepared a lot of rhetoric, such as retreating to Hulao Pass to defend the bottom line of the counterattack, such as protecting Hedong and Hanoi counties, and Sili was not lost. But Xinpi only heard that Sima Yi wanted to abandon Luoyang, Only one sentence was said.
"Give me three thousand troops and horses, and you can decide on the rest by yourself."
That means give me three thousand soldiers and horses, and I will defend Luoyang. You can take the remaining soldiers and horses and decide where to retreat. I will never stop you.
Xinpi also knew that Luoyang would not be able to be defended sooner or later, and it was impossible to wait for reinforcements from Hebei. But as a veteran of three dynasties, he had to set an example for the world.
Sima Yi is capable and young, so he can leave and leave some generals and talents for the Wei Dynasty.
But his old bones can only be buried in Luoyang City.
When Sima Yi heard Xin Pi say this, he immediately understood Xin Pi's intention. However, Sima Yi wanted to say something, but found that he had nothing to say.
I can only bow to the end to express my respect for this old minister of Wei.
(End of chapter)
