One thing is that Sima Yi wronged Cao Shuang, and Cao Shuang did see the military intelligence report.
Cao Zhen's son, no matter how useless he was, still knew the basic military rules. It was impossible for the military report not to inform Cao Shuang of such a big move by the Shu thieves, and it was impossible for him not to pay attention.
But Cao Shuang really didn't take it seriously.
According to Cao Shuang's thinking logic, the Wei Dynasty has been making strategic preparations to counterattack Luoyang for more than half a year. Such a big move must have been investigated by the Shu thieves carefully and spread back to Shu. So now the Shu thieves have reacted, isn't it? Is it a normal thing? !
Therefore, according to Cao Shuang's judgment, the preparations the Shu thieves are making now are to concentrate their forces in Luoyang and fight another Luoyang defensive battle.
Wasn’t this the same routine used by the Shu thieves five years ago? !
Of course, Cao Shuang also knew that if the Shu thieves were prepared for defense, it would be difficult for the Wei Dynasty to counterattack Luoyang.
Therefore, Cao Shuang felt that the most important thing to do now was to seize the time, complete the emperor's deployment as soon as possible, and launch a counterattack before the Shu thieves and defenders were in place.
This is the right thing to do.
But Cao Shuang discovered that the military order passed by Sima Yi was to prepare all departments for defense, especially to transfer the Hebei garrison troops originally gathered in Dongjun to go south to strengthen the defense of Chenliu County. Cao Shuang really couldn't understand this.
Chenliu County already has 40,000 troops. What is the practical significance of transferring soldiers from Dong County there? !
Moreover, the soldiers from Dongjun were transferred to Chenliu County. If Luoyang was to be attacked in the future, the troops would have to be transferred from Chenliu County back to Henan County. If this is the case, why not directly attack Henan County from Dongjun? !
Therefore, Cao Shuang had to break into the tent to stop Sima Yi's plan to mobilize troops.
Facing Cao Shuang's questioning, Sima Yi frowned, but he still had to explain.
First of all, judging from the scale of mobilization of Shu thieves, not only the mobilization of Jingzhou and Heluo areas, but also the mobilization of troops in Guanzhong and even Qinzhou, it is obvious that it is not a simple defensive mobilization of troops.
In response, Cao Shuang's retort was to make a fuss.
In the last defensive battle of Luoyang, didn't Zhuge Liang deploy troops from Jingzhou and Guanzhong? This time there was only one more Qinzhou, so what does it matter? !
Sima Yi was so depressed that Zhuge Liang only had so many troops to defend Luoyang last time, and how many troops he has to defend now? !
The situation is different, and the meaning of deploying troops is naturally different. Last time, Zhuge Liang could not defend Luoyang without deploying troops. This time, Luoyang and Hongnong combined have more than 70,000 county troops, and they can hold on even if they face a strong attack of 200,000 troops. , why bother to mobilize troops in advance? !
But this reason still cannot be passed by Cao Shuang, because during the last attack and defense of Luoyang, Zhuge Liang only had 40,000 to 50,000 troops, which was more than 20,000 fewer troops than now.
In Cao Shuang's view, in a place as big as Heluo, there is no difference between having 20,000 fewer troops and 20,000 more troops.
Sima Yi was so aggrieved.
This is the difference between generals who have been on the battlefield and generals who have not been on the battlefield. Cao Shuang had no idea that sometimes even five thousand more men could determine the outcome of a battle.
Well, this explanation is different, Sima Yi can only say the next one.
Secondly, the soldiers of Dongjun were transferred southward to prevent the defense in southern Yanzhou from being empty.
The current Wei army is too concentrated in the northwest region of Yanzhou County. It is true that doing so will help send troops to attack Luoyang, but the problem is that once the Shu thieves take the initiative to attack, Yanzhou's southern defense will be quite empty.
Yes, Chenliu County has more than 40,000 troops, but they are used to assist in the defense of Yingchuan County. Once Yingchuan County is in danger, Chenliu County will definitely send reinforcements, so that the southern part of Yanzhou will have even fewer troops.
At that time, whether the Shu thieves split up their forces and invaded or the Soochow rebels betrayed their alliance and invaded the country, Yanzhou would inevitably fall into a passive position. It would be better to mobilize troops in advance to make up for the vacancy, just in case.
Moreover, even if the Shu thieves are really preparing for a defensive battle in Luoyang, the journey from Chenliu County to Henan County is not particularly far. This transfer is entirely to take into account Yanzhou's offensive and defensive methods.
But Cao Shuang still disagreed.
First, Cao Shuang once again emphasized that the Shu thieves could not choose to take the initiative to attack at this time, and must be preparing to defend Luoyang.
Second, Cao Shuang did not believe that the Shu thieves could rashly divide their troops and enter Chenliu County without conquering Yanzhou. They would just carry out some harassment in the south of Yanzhou like the last Luoyang defensive battle, and there was nothing to worry about.
As for Soochow, both sides not only have an alliance, but also have hostages in hand. How can they easily break the alliance? !
Third, Cao Shuang once again emphasized to Sima Yi that the emperor's edict was for Sima Yi to prepare to counterattack Luoyang. He allocated so many county soldiers to Yanzhou and Heluo areas, and hoarded so much grain, grass and ordnance reserves. It was not for Sima Yi to guard it. Yanzhou doesn't move.
Since Sima Yi has the ability to mobilize troops back and forth, it would be better to think about how to complete the armament as soon as possible and then send troops to attack Luoyang.
Why is Sima Yi so angry that he can't get enough oil and salt? !
Really, the current Sima Yi misses Xiahouba so much when he served as a guard for him. Although Xiahouba has little battle experience, he can really listen to his own explanations and make his own judgments. .
This Cao Shuang can only talk about things based on the emperor's orders, and it is really difficult to cause trouble to Sima Yi.
Due to the opposition of the army guards, the matter of troop deployment could only be abandoned.
It's not that Sima Yi couldn't stick to his principles, but that in this matter, even if he brought a lawsuit to the Emperor of Wei, Sima Yi couldn't win. The duty of guarding the army is to assist the commander in handling military affairs, and at the same time control the commander at critical moments.
Obviously, Cao Shuang didn't take the first responsibility seriously at all, and he focused on the second responsibility.
The subsequent development of the situation made Cao Shuang even more proud and Sima Yi worried.
What Cao Shuang was proud of was that during the period until the end of the year, Luoyang did not make any major moves, and its military strength remained at around 70,000.
It seemed to confirm Cao Shuang's judgment that the purpose of the Shu thieves was not to strike first, but to fight Luoyang's defense like last time.
But the more Sima Yi watched, the more worried he became. With Zhuge Liang's ability, if he only wanted to fight Luoyang's defensive battle, he would directly add 30,000 troops to the Luoyang area, making up 100,000 troops, which would be enough to defend Luoyang. There is no need to engage in such a big war. Mobilization on a large scale.
But now, the Wei army is still sending news continuously, saying that the Shu thieves are massing troops in Jingzhou and Guanzhong. It can't be because the Shu thieves have too much food and they are full, right? !
For this reason, Sima Yi had to take the initiative to report to the court and explain the situation to the emperor again and again, hoping that the court would be alert and make strategic changes.
However, Sima Yi's sparse notes disappeared like a stone sinking into the sea, without any news.
It's not that Cao Rui didn't see Sima Yi's memorial, or that Cao Rui suddenly became a confused and confused king. On the contrary, Cao Rui actually paid great attention to Sima Yi's memorial.
Cao Rui actually agreed with Sima Yi's judgment. Such a large-scale mobilization of the Shu thieves was definitely not as simple as a Luoyang defensive battle.
However, Cao Rui felt that he actually had two choices now.
One is to follow Sima Yi's suggestion and re-deploy troops from offensive preparation to defensive preparation to block possible attacks by Shu thieves.
However, this approach is too passive.
Over the years, Cao Wei has basically had this set of coping strategies. What awaits Cao Wei is losing Guanzhong and losing Heluo. Now even Yanzhou is facing risks.
If he continues like this, Cao Rui really doesn't think that Sima Yi has the ability to defend Heluo and Yanzhou.
Therefore, Cao Rui wondered whether the second response method could be adopted - launching an offensive against Luoyang in advance.
Although we are not ready for a full-scale attack on Luoyang now, we can still do it by launching a wave of offensive.
Taking the initiative to attack Luoyang will inevitably interrupt the Shu thieves' mobilization preparations and allow the Shu thieves to passively switch from strategic attack to strategic defense. Perhaps in this way, it will destroy the Shu thieves' preparations for this attack.
This is what Cao Rui is thinking now.
However, Cao Rui also knew that this matter was of great importance and he could not decide on his own. For this reason, he had to summon his dog-headed military advisors to discuss the matter together.
Since Chen Qun and Cao Zhenchen passed away due to illness, Cao Rui has taken back a lot of decision-making power and achieved unprecedented centralization.
But Cao Rui is still a clear-headed lord after all. He knows that although he now has enough decision-making power, he cannot make the most accurate decisions on everything, so he still needs his ministers to give him enough advice.
Under such a power structure, Chen Jiao and Man Chong replaced the original positions of Chen Qun and Cao Zhen and entered the decision-making level, but they only had the right to make suggestions and not enough decision-making power.
Similarly, the status of Sun Zi and Liu Fang has also been greatly improved.
In the past, these two people were only responsible for government affairs within the Wei Dynasty. They had no right to intervene in military affairs. But now, because of Cao Rui's takeover of power and needs, they have the right to participate in military affairs.
This power structure means that as long as someone can confirm Cao Rui's ideas, Cao Rui can make all military and political decisions according to his own needs.
But it is obvious that the source of their power for Sun Zi and Liu Fang is Cao Rui. These two people will never oppose any ideas and decisions proposed by Cao Rui. They will only find ways to find reasonable reasons for Cao Rui's ideas. Reason support.
As for Chen Jiao and Man Chong. Man Chong in this time and space is not the Man Chong in history. He did not get the opportunity to gain experience with Sun Quan. Although he had some opinions of his own in terms of military affairs, he did not have enough prestige.
As for Chen Jiao, he has been on the second line all year round. He was brought up to fill the role because of his seniority when all the capable people in front of him died. His right to speak is not as good as Man Chong.
So, when this matter has reached this point, there is actually nothing left to discuss.
In the end, Cao Rui decided to let Sima Yi launch the strategy of attacking Luoyang in advance, and send troops to counterattack Luoyang immediately after the beginning of spring.
(End of chapter)
