Sima Yi finally completed his withdrawal plan.
Including the first two groups of soldiers who retreated to the north bank of the Yellow River, Sima Yi withdrew a total of more than 87,000 soldiers from Yanzhou.
The price paid, in addition to the more than 18,000 casualties of the withdrawal, was also the death of Chen Tai, the son of the late Sikong Chen Qun, and the veteran general Guo Huai.
Chen Tai, in fact, everyone knows it well. With Chen Tai's identity and the influence of the Yingchuan family in this era, as long as Chen Tai does not seek death on his own, there is a high probability that he will not die. Even if he is captured, Shu The thief won't kill him.
But Guo Huai. Unless there is a miracle, Guo Huai can escape in such a chaotic battlefield, otherwise, whether he is killed on the spot or captured by Shu thieves, he is dead.
Guo Huai will not surrender. Cao Rui still has this knowledge.
Therefore, one month after Sima Yi completed the withdrawal, Cao Rui searched everywhere but found no trace of Guo Huai, so he had to issue an edict to posthumously confer Guo Huai as a general with the posthumous title of "Zhen".
Then Guo Huai came back.
It was embarrassing to give Cao Rui the treatment.
After searching for a month, there was no news at all. Even Guo Huai's son Guo Tong had already accepted the outcome of his father dying in battle. As a result, less than half a month after the edict was issued, Guo Huai appeared in Jizhou.
However, embarrassment is embarrassing. Cao Rui is very happy that Guo Huai can come back. There are not many reliable generals available. Cao Rui didn't care much about Guo Huai in the past, but now, Cao Rui can't help but care.
He immediately issued an edict and renamed Guo Huai the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry, Marquis of Duxiang. He ordered Guo Huai to enter Yecheng immediately. Cao Rui wanted to have a private talk with Guo Huai.
There are many things that Cao Rui needs to ask Guo Huai. The most important thing is to ask Guo Huai how the battle of Yanzhou ended up like this.
However, because Guo Huai narrowly escaped death on the battlefield and barely managed to come back with one life, and for the previous month and a half, Guo Huai had been hiding in the mountains to recover from his injuries. It was already a blessing that he did not die of serious injuries. For now, I really can’t go to Yecheng right away.
Therefore, Cao Rui did not meet Guo Huai until the end of November. The two had a long secret conversation in the palace.
When Guo Huai left the palace, Cao Rui issued an order to relieve Sima Yi of his military power and asked him to hand over the military power to Cao Shuang. He immediately returned to Yecheng to resume his duties.
When Sima Yi rushed back to Yecheng and met Cao Rui, he was left behind in Yecheng by Cao Rui.
This treatment is very thought-provoking. At least Sima Zhao, who stayed in Yecheng during the last war, is very incomprehensible.
"Father, what is the purpose of what the emperor did this?!" Sima Zhao asked his father in private.
Sima Yi just sighed slightly, then shook his head slightly and said to Sima Zhao, "My son, don't ask. It's not you or I who can guess the emperor's intention."
Sima Zhao was completely confused.
Sima Zhao was confused, and all the noble families and ministers inside and outside Yecheng were also confused.
This Yanzhou War, no matter how it was washed out, the entire Yanzhou was lost, and it was a humiliating defeat no matter how you look at it. Therefore, many people believe that even if Sima Yi withdrew so many soldiers this time, he preserved the main force of the Wei Dynasty. , but a punishment is inevitable.
Even if he wasn't jailed, he would at least be demoted and stripped of his title.
But the punishment Sima Yi received now was only to be relieved of his military power. Not only did he still retain his title, he was not even deprived of his official position as General of the Expedition to the West.
So, did the Emperor of Wei still value Sima Yi, or did he have other purposes? !
Moreover, after the Emperor of Wei summoned Guo Huai, he immediately recalled Sima Yi and deprived Sima Yi of his military power. Is there any involvement in this? !
Whether in the court or in the aristocratic families, there are a lot of discussions about this matter. The difference in attitude towards Guo Huai and Sima Yi is very likely to determine Cao Rui's attitude towards courtiers and the aristocratic families, so we must ask.
But no matter how they made insinuations, Guo Huai and Sima Yi both took the same response measure - staying behind closed doors.
They are all old foxes. If they know some things and the emperor knows them, that's fine. The rest of the things have nothing to do with them.
In fact, it is impossible for Cao Rui not to be angry about the loss of Yanzhou. This matter is too big. It is not only the loss of the city and the loss of land, but also the political influence is more troublesome than the loss of the land of a state.
Even Cao Rui once did think about leaving the blame to Sima Yi. After all, he was the actual commander of the entire Yanzhou battle. If the battle ended like that, if he didn't bear the responsibility, who would? !
It was because Sima Yi had just led his troops back to Hebei at that time, and he was still needed to stabilize the morale of the troops. They could not move for the time being, otherwise, Cao Rui would have passed the blame long ago.
Cao Rui summoned Guo Huai. On the one hand, he really hoped to appease Guo Huai and prepare for the future use of Guo Huai to replace Sima Yi. On the other hand, Cao Rui also wanted to know whether Sima Yi had neglected his duties in the battle of Yanzhou and was afraid of Sima Yi. The enemy's cowardly behavior.
But after a careful conversation with Guo Huai, Cao Rui learned that in this battle of Yanzhou, Sima Yi's strategy formulation and commanding of the battle were a bit conservative, but it was really not a case of dereliction of duty or fear of the enemy.
Guo Huai is a very high-profile person. Although he really hates Sima Yi, from the perspective of the overall situation of the country, he will say what he should say and will not change his mind due to other factors.
Therefore, Guo Huai told Cao Rui that Sima Yi's biggest problem in the Battle of Yanzhou was that after falling into strategic passivity, he had no idea of trying to reverse this strategic passivity. He just defended passively under the situation at that time and changed the purpose of the strategy. It was also to preserve our own retreat and withdraw from Hebei, rather than try to defeat the enemy.
This was Guo Huai's biggest dissatisfaction with Sima Yi during the Battle of Yanzhou.
But similarly, Guo Huai also admitted to Cao Rui face to face that given the passive situation at the time, Guo Huai did not think there was any reliable way to reverse the strategic passivity. At least he could not think of it.
To a certain extent, Sima Yi did tend to be conservative in terms of strategic layout and did not dare to take risks, but it was not to the extent of being "fearful of the enemy and timid to fight".
As for why Sima Yi adopted such a conservative response strategy, Guo Huai didn't say much.
On the one hand, he is not Sima Yi himself, he is just a bystander. Maybe Sima Yi has other concerns that he did not tell Guo Huaiming, and it is not easy for Guo Huai to judge Sima Yi's intentions rashly.
On the other hand, Guo Huai may not necessarily know the reason why Sima Yi adopted a conservative response strategy in the middle and later stages of Yanzhou, but Guo Huai still knows the reason why he adopted a conservative response strategy in the early stages.
After all, it was Cao Rui who issued the imperial edict to Sima Yi to attack Luoyang. Everyone in the court knew about this.
As long as Guo Huai is not stupid, he will not bring it up in front of Cao Rui. And even if he doesn't mention it, Cao Rui may not know about it.
Therefore, what Cao Rui received from Guo Huai was a fairly positive evaluation for Sima Yi.
Maybe Sima Yi was a little conservative in his command of the Yanzhou battle, but most of it was forced by the situation. As the commander of an army of hundreds of thousands, it is not surprising that Sima Yi tends to have a more conservative military style.
After figuring out these things, Cao Rui issued an edict to first remove Sima Yi from his military power, and then recall him to Yecheng.
The lifting of military power is not to deal with Sima Yi, but Cao Rui must give an explanation to the outside world. You, Sima Yi, commanded hundreds of thousands of troops to fight, and finally lost an entire state. There must be an explanation.
It is impossible for Sima Yi to continue to hold military power, otherwise there will be fierce arguments within the court.
When recruiting Sima Yi back to Yecheng, Cao Rui wanted to ask Sima Yi face to face what he thought during the battle of Yanzhou.
After all, Cao Shuang impeached Sima Yi before, and Guo Huai spoke for Sima Yi later. In the end, it is up to Cao Rui himself to judge whether the truth or falsehood is true.
Only after asking Sima Yi personally could Cao Rui finally decide what kind of punishment he would give Sima Yi.
After this private conversation, Cao Rui finally made the decision that he has now - depriving Sima Yi of his military power and staying in Yecheng to serve him.
Cao Rui is also difficult.
It's not that he doesn't want to hold Sima Yi accountable, or that he doesn't want Sima Yi to take the blame. It's just that he can't do it.
In the first conversation with Sima Yi, Cao Rui could tell that Sima Yi did not mean to shirk his responsibility. On the contrary, Sima Yi took the initiative to take responsibility and apologize to Cao Rui.
At least in terms of attitude, Cao Rui was very satisfied.
As the conversation continued in depth, Cao Rui asked questions one by one and Sima Yi answered them one by one. Only then did Cao Rui realize that there were some things that he really couldn't get too deep into.
It is okay to hold Sima Yi accountable for his poor strategic planning, but if Cao Rui really did this, he would be somewhat regretful for ignoring Sima Yi's request to defend on the spot and insisting on letting Sima Yi take the initiative to attack Luoyang. It was Cao Rui.
Of course, the emperor has a dark heart. Cao Rui could have kept his face and refused to admit it, and Sima Yi would have taken the blame obediently. But he was the one who issued the imperial edict in the first place, and Sima Yi is not the only one who has a discerning eye these days. If Sima Yi is used to take the blame for this crime, the knowledgeable people within the court and the world will not be convinced.
If the Wei Dynasty is still strong, then Cao Rui can completely ignore this point of taking the blame and compensate the Sima family in the future. Even if the discerning people in the world see it, they won't say anything.
But today's Wei Dynasty is no longer the Wei Dynasty that occupies two-thirds of the world. Now the Wei Dynasty is forced to withdraw from the Central Plains and retreat to the area north of the Yellow River. It is not what it used to be.
If Sima Yi is forced to take the blame, causing dissatisfaction within the court and the aristocratic families and having other ideas, that would be the most troublesome thing.
The position of the Yingchuan family in the battle of Yanzhou has changed, but there are some things in front of him. Cao Rui must think ahead and do things without looking too ugly. He must have a certain bottom line.
Therefore, in terms of strategy, Cao Rui could not let Sima Yi take the blame.
And if we want to hold Sima Yi accountable for his improper command in the middle of the strategy, which resulted in the loss of the city and territory, we must first hold Cao Zhao accountable.
Cao Zhao is the son of Cao Xiu and a general of the clan. Especially now that the generals of the Cao clan are withering, if Cao Rui wants to maintain the balance of the court, the power of the clan cannot be weakened too much.
For political reasons, even if Cao Zhao beat the same shit this time, Cao Rui cannot hold him accountable, and must find a way to downplay his responsibility for the defeat. Likewise, Sima Yi's responsibility in this regard cannot be delved too deeply.
But since Sima Yi can neither be held accountable for his strategic layout nor his tactical command, then in the Battle of Yanzhou, Sima Yi, as the coach, has no responsibility.
Then who will bear the responsibility for losing Yanzhou? !
It can’t be me, the Emperor of Wei! ! !
Therefore, Cao Rui could only deal with this matter like this first, leaving Sima Yi idle without being promoted or demoted.
As for the person who takes the blame, Cao Rui actually already has an idea, but this requires an opportunity.
And soon, this opportunity came.
(End of chapter)
