Sima Division finally abandoned Mengjindu and retreated to Wen County.
Then Xiahou Ba was left to garrison Wen County to prevent the Shu thieves from going deep into Hanoi County. He led 30,000 infantry to the official road of Zhi County in the northwest and quickly returned to Hedong County to aid.
After the Wei army abandoned Mengjin Crossing, Zhang Xi occupied it without ceremony, and with the help of Huang Quan's returning navy, he led the army across the Yellow River, occupied the north bank of Mengjin Crossing, and officially entered Hedong County. , and then go directly east to Wenxian County.
Xiahou Ba suddenly felt extremely stressed.
Xiahou Ba wants to defend Wen County, not because it is the hometown of the Sima family. The really important reason is that Wen County is located at the transportation artery in the northeastern part of Hanoi County. Defending here is equivalent to protecting the entire northeastern part of Hanoi County. .
And how important is the northeastern part of Hanoi County? Following the official road in the northeastern part of Hanoi County, leaving Hanoi County and entering the Jizhou Governor's Department, the first big city you encounter is called Yecheng.
In other words, the thief general Zhang Xi has now led 50,000 Shu thiefs to a place less than 500 miles away from Yecheng.
Of course, even if Wen County is lost, Xiahou Ba still has a way to retreat. He can retreat to Shanyang or Xiuwu. There are not no cities in the northeastern part of Hanoi County that can be used to defend.
But the problem is, that direction to the east is still the capital of the Wei Kingdom and the location of the Emperor.
There is no reason why Xiahou Ba is not nervous.
However, Sima Division did not leave many troops for Xiahou Ba to defend the city, only more than 20,000 men. The only advantage to Xiahou Ba was that Xiahou Ba did not have to worry about discordant voices within Wen County, because this place belonged to the Sima family. Lair.
If other Hedong families might choose to sell Xiahou Ba and surrender to the Shu thieves, the Sima family in Wen County would not do so.
If Sima wants to sell, he won't sell Xiahou Ba. The entire Yanzhou can be sold. But now, Sima and his son are still holding on to these places.
At least at this time, Xiahou Ba still believed that the Sima family was a loyal minister of the Wei Dynasty.
What's more, in order to defend Hedong and rescue Qin Lang, Sima Division personally led troops to Hedong County and handed over his own defense to his own nest. Even if it was just from a personal emotional point of view, Xiahou Ba must guard this Wen County.
As for Zhang Xi, after leading his troops to Wen County and setting up camp, he sent a letter persuading Xiahou Ba to surrender.
You still have to go through the necessary procedures, don't look back and be complained by the children of the old Zhang family. After all, Xiahou Ba is his uncle.
Although they are not relatives, judging from Xiahou Yuan's attitude towards the Xiahou family, he loves her more than his biological daughter. It is not wrong to say that Xiahou Ba is his uncle.
Another one. What if it succeeds? !
After all, Xiahou Ba was Ji Han's cavalry general in history. What if this time and space suddenly twitched and the historical line came to a close, and Xiahou Ba chose to surrender? !
Hmm. I have to say that Zhang Xi’s idea is a bit too beautiful.
Now Xiahou Ba has no reason to surrender to Ji Han. He is still the clan general of the Wei Dynasty and still holds real power.
But to be honest, Xiahou Ba was really shocked by Zhang Xi's letter of persuasion.
It was not because Zhang Xi persuaded him to surrender, but because he was shocked by the news written in the letter that his sister was still alive.
To be honest, Xiahouba really didn't know that the gentle and kind clan sister actually married Zhang Fei. In Xiahouba's impression, the clan sister accidentally got lost after going out for a spring outing.
It's really not Xiahou Ba's fault. He was very young at that time and just had some memory and couldn't remember things.
In addition, Cao Cao knew about Xiahou's marriage to Zhang Fei, Xiahou Yuan knew about it, and maybe Xiahou Dun also knew about it, but the other generals of the Cao clan might not know too well.
After all, the two sides were hostile forces at the time, and in the Battle of Hanzhong, Xia Houyuan unfortunately died in the battle, and Liu Bei's situation was established. The two sides fell into a situation of unrelenting fighting. No one even mentioned this matter.
Therefore, Xiahou Yuan did not tell his children that Xiahou was still alive. After his death, Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun and others who knew about it basically did not mention it in order to avoid embarrassment. As a result, Xiahou Ba really did not know Affection.
Now that Zhang Xi has made this clear, Xiahou Ba can finally feel his father's discomfort.
Of course, there is family affection. After all, in Xiahou Ba's impression, the clan sister has always been very kind to his brothers, and she is gentle and lovable.
But the problem is that now the two countries are feuding, and Xiahou Ba and Ji Han still hate to kill their father. Now the enemy is using family affection to persuade him to surrender. This Xiahou Ba really can't bear it.
There must be an explanation, not only for myself, but also to prove the Xiahou family's loyalty to the Emperor of Wei.
For this reason, Xiahou Ba had to reply to Zhang Xi personally. Not only did he refuse to persuade him to surrender, but he also scolded his sister and niece, saying that they were succumbing to thieves and insulted the Xiahou family tradition. Zhang Xi was dumbfounded.
No, it's not that big of a grudge, right? Can you even say "I've turned myself down to be a thief"? !
Is this still the great Han chariot and cavalry general in history? !
But no matter what, the wife and children of the old Zhang family cannot bear this injustice, especially since the three generals are no longer here. As a former comrade, Zhang Xi should seek justice for the old Zhang family.
Therefore, Zhang Xi wrote a letter and scolded him back! ! !
Who are you talking about as a "thief"? We Han people are the orthodox people in the world. The national thieves of the Han Dynasty are the Cao family. As the descendants of Xia Hou Ying, you Xiahou family have received the country's favor in your life but do not want to repay it. Instead, you help Cao Cao to abuse you. You Xiahou family Hegemons are the real "thieves".
Well, as soon as Zhang Xi wrote this letter, it immediately turned into a battle for orthodoxy in the world. Xiahou Ba didn't want to fight anymore, so he immediately wrote back to Zhang Xi and continued to scold him.
Just like this, the two generals Zhang Xi and Xiahou Ba did not start a serious war. Instead, they wrote a letter from you and a letter from me. They were scolding each other with great joy. Meng Da really couldn't see it. Went down.
Meng Da's injury has not healed yet, and he is still wearing a linen bandage, but it no longer affects activities and discussions.
Seeing Zhang Xi at the foot of Wen County, not attacking the city or carrying out a siege, but busy writing letters and scolding people, it feels a bit too idle, right? !
"Now that the army is approaching Wen County, why doesn't the general want to make progress?!"
Meng Da persuaded Zhang Xi very tactfully.
Of course, the most important thing is that if Zhang Xi does not attack Wenxian, he, Mengda, will not have the opportunity to lead the army into battle again. If he does not have the opportunity to lead the army into battle, he will not have the merits to rise again. Mengda still hopes to establish meritorious deeds. of.
Zhang Xi, on the other hand, glanced at Meng Da with a smile, and then said, "Old general, don't forget, what is the purpose of our march to Hanoi this time."
As for the strategic purpose, Meng Da was clear about it. After crossing Mengjin, Zhang Xi disclosed to his generals the real purpose of this battle-to contain the Wei army in the east of Hedong.
Therefore, Zhang Xi is telling Meng Da not to rush to make meritorious deeds, our purpose is just to contain the Wei army.
Now the Wei army's more than 80,000 troops are contained by Zhang Xi, Ma Dai and others in the two counties of Hedong and Hanoi. The goal has been achieved. If Wen County cannot be defeated, it has no practical significance at all.
Moreover, siege battles are never that easy to fight. It is true that we have more than 50,000 people in our hands, but Xiahou Ba also has more than 20,000 defenders in his hands, so this battle is not that easy to fight.
Of course Meng Da also knows this, but Meng Da also has his own ideas.
"General, please take a look!" Meng Da said, pointing to the military map hanging in Zhangxi's tent, and then said, "Although Wen County is urgent and difficult to leave, there are only thousands of people east of Wen County, Pinggao and Huai County. The remaining people are on guard. If the general divides me 10,000 soldiers and horses, and asks Huang Gongheng's navy to help me, I will lead the army to attack these two places, and I will definitely succeed in one battle. At this time, I made a plan to go north to attack Shanyang County. Then Xiahou Ba must be eager to return to the defense. In this way, not only Wen County can be defeated, but the general will follow and pursue, Xiahou Ba can also be defeated. Xiahou Ba is defeated and will inevitably flee eastward. We will take advantage of the victory to pursue it, and the peace of the entire Hanoi will be just around the corner."
The more Zhang Xi heard what Meng Da said, the more he frowned. This Meng Da, really, I don't know what to say about him.
It's not that Meng Da's plan is not feasible, but it's just that Meng Da's plan is based on his own merits, completely ignoring the overall strategic deployment of the Northern Expedition.
Of course Zhang Xi knows that Pinggao County and Huai County are easy to fight, but he can't fight.
These two counties are on the bank of the Yellow River. If Zhang Xi goes to attack, Sima Yi in Yanzhou will definitely worry that Dongjun, across the river, will also be threatened by Zhang Xi. If there is a breakthrough on the Yingchuan side, Sima Yi shrinks his troops and returns to defend Chenliu County, and no longer deploys troops and horses from Dongjun County. What should he do? !
Should Wei Yan lead a partial army to attack Dongjun, Taishan and other places?
Furthermore, if Mengda leads the army to conquer two counties and then goes north to attack Shanyang County, Xiahouba will definitely abandon Wenxian County, because once Mengda conquers Shanyang County and occupies the key points of the official road, Mengda can even follow suit. Take the official road and go eastward to threaten Yecheng.
But the problem is that once you Mengda attacks here, not only Xiahou Ba of Wen County will retreat, but Sima Yi of Yanzhou, Bi Gui of Bingzhou, and even Cao Rui of Yecheng will gather their troops to guard both sides of the Yellow River. , the entire Northern Expedition plan was completely disrupted.
At that time, it really becomes a complete chaos. No one knows what the final result will be.
Anyway, Zhang Xi didn't dare to take this risk. He couldn't bear the responsibility of anything going wrong.
Therefore, Zhang Xi only had two words for Meng Da's battle plan - disapproval.
Meng Da really couldn't understand why Zhang Xi was so timid and didn't dare to take such a risk even though it was a good battle plan. !
Zhang Xi didn't explain this. Anyway, this is my fighting style. Back then, that old man Wei Yan couldn't do anything to me even if he boasted about his beard and glared at me. If you, Meng Da, are capable, just give it a try.
See who can beat whom.
(End of chapter)
