Deng Ai's journey north was something no one expected.
Not to mention that Zhuge Liang didn't think of it, even Cao Wei is a little confused now, what is this Deng Ai doing? !
The news of the fall of Huguan reached Yecheng, which can be said to have frightened Cao Shuang to the point where he was sweating all over.
The Shu thieves' capture of Huguan was equivalent to opening up the passage from Shangdang County into Jizhou. They could attack from north to south, directly threatening Yecheng.
Now the war is urgent. The Shu thieves to the east of Yecheng have already reached Wei County. General Sima Yi has stabilized the situation. The Shu thieves to the west of Yecheng are fighting fiercely with Qin Lang and Xiahou Ba in Hanoi County. If there are still Shu thieves to the north of Yecheng Upon arrival, Yecheng was completely surrounded.
Although it was not a direct attack on the city, the reinforcement routes from all parties were cut off, making it difficult to defend Yecheng for a long time.
Moreover, the forces of the Wei Dynasty are now concentrated on the east and west lines. Even after several deployments of troops in Yecheng, there are only more than 10,000 Imperial Guards left to guard Yecheng. If the Shu thieves go south directly from Huguan, the army will be in danger. As for Yecheng, there is no large-scale Wei army that can stop them along the way.
The capital of the great Wei Kingdom is in danger.
It's really no wonder that Cao Shuang broke into a cold sweat. Even with his strategic vision, he could see what the loss of Huguan meant.
But in this case, the Shu thieves actually chose to continue going north and enter Taiyuan County. What is this? !
Could it be that Deng Ai really had a false reputation, that he couldn't understand such an obvious situation, and made such a bad move at such a critical moment? !
Let alone Cao Shuang, Chen Jiao and Huan Fan were confused about Deng Ai's use of troops.
In Yecheng today, the only people who still have some strategic vision are probably Chen Jiao and Huan Fan.
What these two people can't figure out, others can't figure out even more.
But, although they couldn't figure it out, both of them knew that they could not allow the Shu thieves to continue to occupy Huguan like this. They had to find a way to recapture Huguan, otherwise, Yecheng would be in danger.
Therefore, the two men simultaneously suggested to Cao Shuang to send troops to counterattack Huguan.
But Cao Shuang was confused again.
This time, Cao Shuang cannot be entirely blamed. Although Cao Shuang still has selfish motives, the actual conditions this time are indeed not very good.
There are no more troops to mobilize around Yecheng.
Today, the largest regiment around Yecheng is in the hands of Sima Yi in Wei County, with nearly 50,000 troops. However, this army cannot be easily deployed to block the 80,000 Northern Expeditionary Army led by Zhang Xi.
The only remaining county soldiers were Xia Houxuan of Chaoge County, who had 10,000 county soldiers, and Yecheng's own 13,000-man garrison.
Cao Shuang really didn't dare to mobilize the soldiers and horses in Yecheng. If Sima Yi in Wei County couldn't stop him, then Yecheng couldn't leave any soldiers and horses.
As for Chaoge, it is the second line of defense against war in Hanoi County. If the soldiers and horses there are withdrawn, the problem will be equally serious.
Cao Shuang really couldn't figure out where else to mobilize troops to counterattack Huguan.
In this regard, Chen Jiao's suggestion was to let the clan general Xia Houxian lead 10,000 Yecheng forbidden troops to counterattack Huguan, and issue an edict to transfer Youzhou governor Tian Yu to lead Youzhou soldiers to reinforce Yecheng.
Chen Jiao's idea is very simple. As long as Xiahou Ba and Qin Lang can still support the war in Hanoi, Yecheng will not be in danger easily, and even if there is danger, they can still retreat to Chaoge, and in Xiahou Xuan With the help of others, they continued to block the Shu thieves.
As for Wei County, Sima Yi used 50,000 people to fight against 80,000 people. With Sima Yi's ability, it was not that easy for Zhang Xi and Wei Yan to break through quickly.
Therefore, the 10,000 people in Yecheng are actually mobilizable troops for the time being. They can be temporarily mobilized to fill the hole in Huguan. When Youzhou County soldiers come from Daijun to help, Yecheng will still have enough troops to defend it. .
As usual, Cao Shuang half-listened to Chen Jiao's suggestion. He also listened to the matter of dispatching troops from Youzhou. Therefore, he ordered Youzhou governor Tian Yu to send troops from Daijun to counterattack Huguan.
What makes Chen Jiao anxious is not to seek the far side at the expense of the near! ! !
Not to mention that the distance between Yecheng and Huguan is much closer than sending troops from Daijun. Just talking about Youzhou, Tian Yu is currently in Beiping County. When he arrives at Daijun, he will gather the troops from Daijun and go south. .Without a month or two, it’s impossible to do it.
Not to mention, now that the Xianbei people in the northern part of Bingzhou are rebelling, the southern Xiongnu can't say how stable they are in dispatching Daijun soldiers south. If these foreign rebels take advantage of the situation and enter Youzhou, wouldn't the trouble be even greater? !
Why do you have to use such a troublesome method to plug the loopholes if you leave the simpler method unused? !
But Chen Jiao's repeated advice sounded to Cao Shuang's ears as if he hadn't said it at all. Cao Shuang said it in a hurry, and Cao Shuang simply kicked Chen Jiao out of the general's residence.
Chen Jiao was so angry that a veteran minister of three dynasties who had made great contributions to the country should be treated like this. After returning home that day, he directly claimed that he was ill and could not recover.
Chen Jiao couldn't understand what Cao Shuang was struggling with, but as a close confidant of Cao Shuang, Huan Fan couldn't understand that the general didn't dare to send the soldiers from Yecheng to leave.
On the one hand, Yecheng was an important place and the emperor was there, so Cao Shuang had to take precautions.
On the other hand, to put it bluntly, Cao Shuang is still worried about Sima Yi.
Although Cao Shuang had lowered his stature before, personally invited Sima Yi to come out of the mountain, gave Sima Yi military power, and asked him to go to Wei County to stop the Shu thieves, but deep down in his heart, Cao Shuang was wary of Sima Yi and never disappeared.
It's not that Cao Shuang doesn't believe that Sima Yi will defect before the battle. After all, his Sima family can only have a future by following Cao Wei. Surrendering to the Shu thieves will not bring much benefit to the Sima family.
What Cao Shuang is really worried about is that once the Shu thieves are defeated this time, Sima Yi returns to Yecheng with 50,000 soldiers and forces him to abdicate. If he does not have enough military power, he will not be able to suppress Sima Yi. .
Huan Fan was actually very clear about Cao Shuang's worries, but as for this matter, Huan Fan really couldn't persuade him.
First, although Cao Shuang is a bit petty, Sima Yi is not a fuel-efficient lamp. It is understandable for Cao Shuang to do this.
Secondly, although the deployment of troops from Dai County is a bit far away, the Shu thief Deng Ai suddenly led his troops northward. For a while, it seemed that he really had no intention of marching into Jizhou. The Wei Dynasty still had enough time to do so. Do.
So, let’s leave this matter as is for now.
Of course, the most important thing is that when the battle report from Hanoi reached Yecheng, Cao Shuang's behavior of killing the defenders of Yecheng without dispatching them unexpectedly turned out to be a foresight.
Hanoi's battle report shows that Bi Gui was ambushed in Hanoi County. He did not mention his own death, but the entire army of 20,000 Bingzhou cavalry was destroyed. It also caused Qin Lang to be trapped in Zhi County and unable to move.
As for Xiahou Ba, he failed in his rash attack, was ambushed by the enemy, lost his troops, and was trapped in Wen County. Various unfavorable situations caused the civil war in Henan to be in danger of collapse at any time.
In this case, Yecheng may encounter threats at any time, so it becomes the best choice not to deploy the Yecheng defenders.
Cao Shuang's sacrifice of the near and far away left Yecheng with the last reserve team to deal with the situation. Under such circumstances, even Chen Jiao was embarrassed to continue pretending to be sick in the mansion.
On the one hand, Cao Shuang unexpectedly made the right choice, so it would be a bit inappropriate to pursue the matter of not giving him face before.
On the other hand, the war in Hanoi was critical, and Chen Jiao could no longer tolerate pretending to be ill.
After all, he was the hero who established the Wei Dynasty. At this time, he would not easily see the dynasty he had fought for fall so easily.
The war in Hanoi is tense, especially when Qin Lang's 50,000 soldiers and horses are trapped in Zhi County. Facing the strong attack of more than 100,000 troops led by Zhuge Liang, if they cannot retreat as soon as possible and preserve their combat power, the entire situation in Hanoi will collapse.
Therefore, Chen Jiao and Huan Fan once again suggested to Cao Shuang that they transfer the Yecheng garrison and give it to Xia Houxuan of Chaoge to command, so that Xia Houxuan could advance westward as soon as possible to meet Qin Lang's breakout, return to Yewang County, and re-establish the defense line.
At the same time, Xiahou Ba was ordered not to advance rashly, but to hold on to Wen County and delay time.
But this time, Cao Shuang followed most of the suggestions.
Cao Shuang did ask Xia Houxuan to take the initiative to send troops westward and support Qin Lang's retreat to Yewang County. However, Cao Shuang asked Xiahou Xuan to lead the 10,000 soldiers stationed in Chaoge to march westward. As for the defenders of Yecheng, Cao Shuang remained still.
This order shocked Chen Jiao again. Xia Houxuan only had 10,000 people, so you asked him to face Zhuge Liang's hundreds of thousands to support Qin Lang's withdrawal? !
Are you sure your head wasn't caught in the door? !
Even Huan Fan found it incredible this time. How reluctant was the general to let go of the 13,000 defenders of Yecheng? !
Military and national affairs are no child's play! ! !
This time, even Huan Fan joined the ranks of trying to persuade Cao Shuang, and the final result was that Huan Fan accompanied Chen Jiao and was kicked out of the General's Mansion by Cao Shuang.
Well, after this time, Chen Jiao claimed to be ill again. But this time, he was not pretending! ! !
(End of chapter)
