Looking at Chen Qun's leaving figure, Sima Zhao's eyes flashed with a shadow.
Sima Zhao was not afraid of Chen Qun's threat at all. Now that his entire clan was dead and his body was mutilated, the only thing that kept him alive was hatred, so he was not afraid of anything.
The reason why Sima Zhao still listened to Chen Qun's words was that what Sima Zhao valued was the power in the opponent's hands. Only by holding power like Zhao Gao could he do whatever he wanted.
Wei is experiencing constant border troubles and frequent riots among the people in the country. Sima Zhao first showed his signs last year, and interested people secretly came to visit him.
Eunuchs had no heirs, and their ability to intervene in politics and power depended entirely on the tacit support of the emperor. The emperor liked to cultivate eunuchs, either to fight against the civil servant group or to check and balance his relatives and nobles.
Because eunuchs have no foundation, they can easily become political victims. Sima Zhao was educated by Sima Yi when he was young, and he understood that in addition to relying on the emperor, eunuchs must also win over civil servants or military generals, in order to achieve what Zhao Gao did.
Sima Zhao liquidated the small gentry in Luoyang and the minions of the big clan in Henan. He was appreciated by the gentry in Hebei and secretly contacted the young man. They encouraged Cao Pi to move the capital back to Yecheng. The reason was that the emperor could not be put in danger all the time, and if the Central Plains were defended, If we can't hold back, we can still rely on the Yellow River to stop the Han army.
Yecheng was one of the places where the Sima family was exterminated. The suggestions of the Hebei scholars coincided with Sima Zhao. On the surface, he promised Chen Qun to actively manage the government, but privately informed the Hebei scholars. These people were much better than Chen Qun. He spent a lot of time meeting the emperor, and the news of moving the capital was slowly on Cao Pi's lips.
The third year of Emperor Zhangwu of Han Dynasty and the sixth year of Emperor Huangchu of Wei Dynasty.
At the end of February, it was still freezing cold in the Central Plains, but Cao Xiu of Wancheng could not sit still. He mobilized his troops to cross the river from the south of Wancheng and follow the direction of the Feishui River to find Guan Yu for a decisive battle.
The soldiers and horses in Jingzhou have been stationed in Bowang for two months, and they are not in danger of starving or freezing. Wancheng's military ration reserves are continuing to decrease. What's even more dangerous is that they are cut off from news from the Central Plains, and there is no reply even from the direction of Runan.
Cao Xiu first gave in during the war of attrition, and the Wei army built a pontoon bridge across the river where Zhang He cut off the current. Cao Xiu thought that even if he could not capture Bowang City, he could send a partial army to bypass the city during the war and go to the Central Plains to report Nanyang's plans. War situation.
Cao Xiu also planned to spare the garrisons from Yingchuan, Chenliu, Hanoi, Shanyang and other counties, and select a general to integrate the county troops with the Nanyang Wei troops to attack Guan Yu.
Guan Ping's troops could handle the small-scale mobilization and reconnaissance of the Wei army by himself, but this time the Wei troops from Wancheng came out in full force, so he could only shrink the scope of his activities and return to Bowang to report to Guan Yu for handling.
Cao Xiu took Cao Zhang, the king of Rencheng, as the vanguard, and General Zhang He of the left to cut off the rear and protect the supplies. He himself commanded a total of 80,000 troops in the Chinese army. After crossing the river, he set out for Bowang City.
In the battles in the Central Plains and the military formations, there are no bunkers or concealments to cover them. It is purely a competition for the combat effectiveness of the soldiers and the generals' command and dispatch ability.
According to Guan Yu's style of avoiding the main force and attacking weak points last year, Cao Xiu was sure that Guan Yu's soldiers would definitely stick to Bowang, and the Wei army could simply attack the city for a few days to put pressure.
It doesn't matter whether Bowang can be captured or not, as long as we take the opportunity to send information back to the Central Plains and recruit Nanyang's military supplies from various counties.
The winter in Bowang was dry, cold and windy, but the defenders inside and outside the city lived comfortably because Guan Yu made the entire army eat three meals a day, which was better than the treatment during the war.
According to the supply of Cao Xiu's 100,000 soldiers from various parts of the Central Plains, there was so much food delivered in the past two months that the official warehouses of Bowang and Duyang could not hold it. If stored in the wild, it would easily get damp and deteriorate.
In addition to increasing the daily food supply, Guan Yu also distributed it to the poor people. His prestige in the Central Plains was already high, and in conjunction with this kind act of donating food, Li Shu was determined to become a Han family.
Since the chaos of the late Han Dynasty, Nanyang County has been ruled by Yuan Shu, Liu Biao, Zhang Xiu, and Cao Cao. Warlords have continued to exploit the people, and even massacres have occurred from time to time. Coupled with the rampant plague in those years, Nanyang County, the most populous county in Jingzhou (54 Ten thousand households, 2.43 million people), became an Asura purgatory, with people dying of hunger everywhere and no roosters crowing for thousands of miles.
During the Central Plains War, people in Nanyang fled one after another in order to survive, mainly to Nanjun, Hanzhong, Runan and other places. It almost became a scene of ten houses and nine empty houses. Nowadays, most people in Nanyang are refugees from Hebei and Sanfu.
The former treats the people as nothing but grass, while the latter gives them rice and millet.
Which one is better and which one is worse will be judged by superiors and inferiors.
Cao Zhang led an advance force of 20,000 men and arrived 20 miles south of Bowang. He found that Guan Yu did not refuse to defend the city as Cao Xiu had speculated, but instead took the initiative to form a formation here. From a distance, he could see that Jingzhou soldiers were fluttering their banners and their troops were in good condition. They were only a few in number. No less than our own side.
"Da Sima made another miscalculation. Guan Yu is probably old, and his actions often run counter to the art of war. The young man actually dares to fight with us. Today is the day for my king to make a name for himself." Cao Zhang looked at the general next to him and stroked his beard and laughed. .
"King Ren of the city, I have seen that Jingzhou's troops and horses are well prepared and their strength is still superior to ours. Why don't we wait for the main force of Da Sima to arrive before we attack forward?" General Na Bi saw Guan Yu frightened and tactfully reminded Cao Zhang not to underestimate the enemy. .
"Why are you so pedantic? When the late Emperor was alive in the past, I often defeated the army independently. How is Wen Lie (Cao Xiu) better than me? Guan Yu is proud and arrogant. When the king comes to fight in front of me, he will definitely be provoked to fight. , even if he can't be killed on the spot, he will still have to exhaust his energy just like Zhang He did when he fought against Yan Yan." Cao Zhang snorted coldly.
During Cao Cao's lifetime, Cao Zhang often led troops to fight alone. Whether he was conquering Wuhuan externally or fighting rebellions internally, he almost never experienced defeat. However, due to the embarrassment of his status, Cao Pi was removed from the military power after he succeeded to the throne. , drinking and feeling depressed all day long in the fiefdom.
What is even more ironic is that Xia Houshang, Cao Zhang's former general, is now the general of the Eastern Conquest, the commander-in-chief of Xu Yangzhu Military, and has become an important military minister guarding one side, but he actually has to succumb to Cao Xiu. This unwillingness and frustration Very few people can understand Qu.
When the Wei State was in danger, Cao Zhang put aside his suspicions and came to Nanyang. He planned to have a good fight, but Guan Yu's tactics surprised him. He often made strange plots that did not follow the laws of war. Now that he encountered Guan Yu's orthodox formation waiting for battle, Cao Zhang simply couldn't. He will not miss this opportunity, he will use practical actions to prove that he is stronger than Cao Xiu.
General Pi was so refuted by Cao Zhang that he did not dare to reply, so he could only follow the opponent and slowly greet him.
When they were about to approach, Cao Zhang called several generals to his side and told them to perform their duties for a while. After fighting or killing the generals in front of the battle, he would use the weapons in his hands to issue instructions, asking the generals to attack the enemy while they were defeated.
Cao Zhang was wearing exquisite fish-scale armor, riding a great horse from Dawan as a tribute from the Western Regions, holding a halberd and slowly walked to the front of the two armies. He stared at the bearded old man in a parrot shirt, raised his weapon and made Provocative action.
"The traitor Guan Yu, seeing me here, why don't you dismount and be bound?" Cao Zhang taunted loudly.
Guan Yu unexpectedly did not get angry, but uttered two words with confusion on his face: "This halberd."
(End of chapter)
