Zhang Xi does not like Meng Da, but on the battlefield, Zhang Xi obviously does not want Meng Da to die.
Wang Chang's strategy is indeed a good method, but at the same time, this method is also very dangerous.
The Wei army will not just watch you seize Fuzhou and cut off their retreat. Therefore, even if Meng Da can easily capture Fuzhou, he cannot easily hold it.
The reason why Meng Da was assigned Liu Yin as his deputy was not because Zhang Xi didn't trust Meng Da. On the contrary, it was because Zhang Xi didn't want Meng Da to risk an accident and gave him insurance.
After all, Liu Yin has a delicate mind and is good at defense. During the battle in Huaili City, Liu Yin's reputation for being good at defense spread throughout the world.
Of course, Zhang Xi didn't know what Meng Da was thinking, but since the military coach was Zhang Xi, Meng Da could only accept whatever arrangements Zhang Xi made.
In this way, after confirming the battle plan, Meng Da took Liu Yin as his deputy general, and with the support of Huang Quan's remaining Yellow River navy, he led 5,000 men to attack Fuzhou in the center of the Yellow River.
The reason why there are only five thousand people is that on the one hand, the place in Fuzhou in the middle of the river is really small and cannot accommodate too many people to fight. On the other hand, from the perspective of supplies, Meng Da's army, which can only rely on Huang Quan's navy to transport supplies, is small in number. point, the supply pressure will be lighter.
After all, once Fuzhou is captured, Mengda will need to hold on for a while.
During this period of time, Zhang Xi naturally could not be idle. He wanted to put enough pressure on the Wei army in front of Mengjin Crossing so that Sima Division would not dare to deploy too many troops to counterattack Fuzhou in the center of the river to support Meng Da's troops.
This is a battle that not only tests the ability to persevere, but also tests the ability of each other to support and cooperate.
Master Sima and Xiahou Ba will finally face their real test.
And just when Meng Jindu was about to fight... Nanyang, Wancheng.
After more than half a month of preparations, Wancheng's Northern Expedition army was finally assembled.
The Qinzhou County soldiers led by Jiang Xu and the Liangzhou cavalry led by Pang De were finally in place, and the Northern Expedition could officially begin.
On the one hand, Xu Shu asked Ma Dai to lead the Qiang and Hu cavalry to set off first to deliver the military report to Zhuge Liang in Luoyang. On the other hand, Xu Shu directly swore up his troops, launched the Northern Expedition, and led the main army to Xiangcheng in Yingchuan County.
Nearly 150,000 soldiers and horses headed for Yingchuan County. Cao Wei had already made careful plans to pass this matter to Xuchang and put it in front of Chen Tai and Guo Huai.
The two of them were helpless about this.
Nowadays, the total number of county soldiers in Yingchuan County is less than 40,000. This troop strength gap is a bit too big.
If it were just a difference in military strength, it would actually be easier to handle. Sima Yi retained a hand in Chenliu County. There were 50,000 soldiers and horses there who did not follow Sima Yi to counterattack Luoyang. If some of them were transferred to support, the gap in military strength could be slightly narrowed.
What really made Chen Tai and Guo Huai feel helpless was the change in attitude of the Yingchuan family.
Today's Yingchuan family has changed a lot in attitude from two years ago.
On the one hand, it was because of the Luoyang counterattack five years ago. The Wei Dynasty fought with loud thunder and light rain. Although they fought a beautiful battle in Yingchuan, the counterattack ended in failure in Luoyang.
This made the Yingchuan family doubt whether Cao Wei could recapture Luoyang.
On the other hand, with the death of Chen Qun two years ago, the Yingchuan family lost the last person with a say in the Wei Dynasty. Chen Tai was regarded as Chen Qun's successor, but he was still placed in the position of the Wei Dynasty. Yingchuan, this caused dissatisfaction among the Yingchuan family.
Since the death of Er Xun, the influence of the Yingchuan family in the Wei court has been gradually declining. With the death of Chen Qun, the Yingchuan family has lost its last political leader, and its power in the Wei court has completely declined. , was completely suppressed by the Hebei Family and the Heluo Family.
The emperor of the Wei Dynasty, Cao Rui, did not seem to have any intention to appease the Wei Dynasty. The Heluo family and the Hebei family basically have the final say in the Wei Dynasty today. So why does the Yingchuan family continue to insist on being loyal to the Wei Dynasty? !
In addition, in recent years, Zhuge Liang, who is based in Luoyang, has used various means to win over the Yingchuan family. The structure of the Han Dynasty court has also allowed the Yingchuan family to see that they can continue to protect their own interests by taking refuge in the past. possible.
The first is the issue of spokespersons. In the Han Dynasty, the Yingchuan family had two natural spokespersons, and both of them held high positions of authority.
Zhang Xi and Xu Shu.
Although these two people came from poor families, they were from Yingchuan after all.
In this era of extremely strong rural concepts, being both from Yingchuan is a natural link. One of these two people is a hussar general and minister of Tuogu in the Han Dynasty. Although the other is not in a high position, he has deep qualifications and all he needs is A chance to be in a high position immediately.
If these two people are used as their spokespersons, the Yingchuan family will immediately have a certain say in the court if they choose to join the Han Dynasty.
The second issue is the interest structure within the Han Dynasty.
The current Han Dynasty court is basically decided by a bunch of Yizhou guys and a bunch of Jingzhou guys.
Forget it about Jingzhou guys. After all, it was the territory of Chu State in the early years. After so many years of influence and assimilation, everyone can barely accept the Jingzhou family’s great scholars. But the Yizhou natives, they don’t know how to govern the country! ! !
The Yingchuan family asked themselves, with the Yingchuan family's background, once they join the Han Dynasty, they may have to compete and distribute interests with the Jingzhou people, but with the Yizhou people, they can easily seize their political power without using any means at all. The right to speak.
Of course, if the capital of the Han Dynasty was still in Chengdu, located in the southwest, the Yingchuan family might have to consider the geographical advantage that the other party had. But now the Han Dynasty has moved its capital to Chang'an, and I heard that it was originally going to be moved to Luoyang, but the timing was not right. That's why it didn't take final shape.
Well, although Luoyang is better, Chang'an is not unacceptable.
This is the change in the thinking of the Yingchuan family now. They no longer resist the Han entering Yingchuan, or even the Heluo area.
As a member of the Yingchuan family, Chen Tai actually knows everything about the internal situation of the Yingchuan family. However, Chen Tai is just an individual. He cannot even represent the Yingchuan Chen family, and naturally he cannot influence the Yingchuan family. Judgments based on one's own interests.
As for Guo Huai, Guo Huai can also feel the undercurrents inside Yingchuan County.
Guo Huai also comes from a wealthy family. He actually knows very well what a wealthy family's work style is like.
In addition, Guo Huai had also stayed in Yingchuan County for almost three years, and Chen Tai did not hide some things from him. Therefore, Guo Huai actually knew that the aristocratic families in this place were showing signs of instability.
But so what? !
Chen Tai is the son of Chen Qun. After Chen Qun passed away two years ago, Chen Tai inherited Chen Qun's title but did not receive any official position. He was not transferred back to Yecheng by the court. Instead, he was allowed to continue guarding Ying. Sichuan County and Chen Tai are treated like this, how can Guo Huai be any better? !
Just what these two people had to say to the court, could the court controlled by the Hebei aristocratic families listen? !
The only person who can still listen to their advice is Sima Yi. But will Sima Yi's life be easy? !
That Cao Shuang, who has been looking for trouble for Sima Yi in Yanzhou all these years, and his arrogant and domineering behavior has spread from Yanzhou to Yingchuan County. Sima Yi can still leave a force of up to 50,000 people for the two of them in Chenliu County. The reinforcements were already extremely benevolent and righteous.
After hearing the news that Xu Shu was about to arrive in Xiangcheng with 150,000 troops, the two of them had no other better idea except to get together and look at each other.
The two of them actually knew very well that they were able to defend Yingchuan in the past because the Yingchuan family did not want to see the Han Dynasty enter Yingchuan County and affect their interests. But now, this biggest help is no longer there.
How can we defend against 40,000 people against 150,000 people? !
In the end, it was Chen Tai who took the initiative and said, "There is a huge disparity in military strength. It is no longer appropriate for Yingyin to defend the old general and withdraw to Xuchang and wait for reinforcements."
After several years of rest and recruitment, Yingchuan County now has a total of 38,000 county soldiers. The previous defense strategy was for Guo Huai to lead 15,000 troops to garrison Yingyin County as a barrier to the west of Xuchang to guard against you. The water reached the front line of Xiangcheng and the Shu army invaded.
But now, the strength of the Shu bandits' Northern Expedition is as high as 150,000. With Zhang Yi from Xiangcheng and Wang Ping from Jiaxian, the total strength is probably close to 180,000. With such a huge difference in strength, it is meaningless to divide the troops for defense.
Therefore, Chen Tai's intention was to let Guo Huai abandon Yingyin, abandon Xuchang's peripheral defense line, and directly trap Xuchang.
Regarding Chen Tai's idea, Guo Huai remained silent for a long time, and finally nodded and agreed.
But then, Guo Huai added another sentence.
"It is possible to adjust Chenliu's prefect Gaotanglong to lead the army to help and garrison Yanling."
Chen Tai was stunned when he heard this.
In fact, Chen Tai also wanted to say this, but he had always been worried about Guo Huai's attitude, so he never spoke. But who would have thought that it was Guo Huai who took the initiative to say it.
It is inevitable to mobilize reinforcements from Chenliu to support Yingchuan County. With the troops in the hands of Chen Tai and Guo Huai, it is impossible to stop the attack of the 150,000 army led by Xu Shu.
However, let Gao Tanglong of Chenliu County lead the troops to garrison Yanling. Yanling is located east of Xuchang, near the junction of Yingchuan County and Chenliu County.
In fact, the subtext of asking Gao Tanglong to station troops here is to ask Gao Tanglong to help guard Xuchang's retreat to Chenliu County.
This means giving up guarding Yingchuan.
(End of chapter)
