"Okay, since all the ministers think we can't save Jiangxia for now, let's make a decision. Now let's discuss who will save Xiangyang and who will lead the troops to attack Yangzhou." Cao Rui said with a smile.
Although he is a British master, he is not very old after all. Secondly, when he first discussed military and state affairs, he was recognized by the civil and military officials of the court, and he could not hide his excitement in his tone.
"My dear friends, which one is willing to go and relieve the siege of Xiangyang?"
"Your Majesty, I am willing to go!"
A tall man with a stern face flashed out of the courtroom. Everyone saw that it was Sima Yi, the auxiliary minister and the general of the Fu army.
Although Sima Yi's face was extremely calm, his heart was extremely excited at this moment. He had waited for many years for an opportunity to get his hands on the military power.
Since becoming an official, he has been among the civil servants. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the two former masters Cao Cao and Cao Pi have never given him the opportunity to lead troops. You must know whether Sima Yi has shown outstanding military talents in front of them.
Although Cao Wei has always had the rule that the clan controls military power, it is impossible to completely eliminate the opportunity for foreign surnames to lead troops. The five good generals in the past were representatives of foreign surnames leading troops. Cao Wei only needs to leave the main military power in the hands of his own family. After all, it is It is unrealistic to have military power in residence.
Of course, Sima Yi's desire to go out to lead the army at this moment was not for any conspiracy ambitions, but just to show his ambition. Now he is still the respected loyal minister of Wei.
"Okay, the Qing family is indeed loyal to the emperor and patriotic. They are worthy of being the pillars of our Wei Dynasty." Cao Rui said with a smile.
It's just that although he had a smile on his face, his sharp eyes glanced at Sima Yi inadvertently. This glance was so subtle and invisible that no one else noticed it.
Cao Rui remembered the warning left by his father before his death. Sima Yi was a rare talent in the world. With his assistance, the Wei Dynasty would definitely prosper. However, Emperor Taizu Wu once said that this man looked down upon the wolves and the city government was very poor. Deep down, even Taizu's abilities cannot be fully understood by this person. Therefore, we should not easily give military power to Sima Yi. When using this person, we must also guard against this person and not let him escape control.
It's just that now Sima Yi is an auxiliary minister and has always been loyal. His loyalty to the Wei Dynasty is praised by both the government and the public. What's more, he took the initiative to ask for help. Cao Rui couldn't make up his mind at the moment, wondering whether he should let Sima Yi go out to take charge. military.
However, he made a decision in an instant, and immediately continued: "Let Sima Qing's family go and take control of Wancheng to break the siege of Xiangyang."
"I accept the order." Sima Yi fell to the ground to receive the order. Although he was extremely excited in his heart, his appearance was almost as calm as usual, and he only showed a bit of joy at being favored by the emperor.
In fact, the biggest reason why Cao Rui wanted Sima Yi to lead the army, apart from his trust in his consistent loyalty, was his confidence in himself.
Cao Rui believed that he could control all unexpected factors with his own methods. In addition, he was only in his early twenties, more than twenty years younger than Sima Yi. people, so they can use their talents with confidence.
"As for sending troops to Huaiyang, who do you think is worthy of this task?"
Chen Qun came out of the squad and said: "Your Majesty, I recommend Cao Xiu, the General of Zhengdong, to take up this post. General Zhengdong often fights against Soochow on the eastern front. He is familiar with the soldiers and terrain there, so he is the most suitable candidate."
"Yeah." Cao Rui nodded and said, "What do Cao Aiqing think?"
It was Cao Xiu's suggestion to send troops to the eastern front. Of course he was willing to go, so he replied: "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead troops to attack Huaiyang to kill the bandits for your Majesty."
"Okay, if Aiqing is so heroic, how can I not allow it?" Cao Rui said loudly, "Let Aiqing deal with the enemies on the eastern front."
"promise."
Under Shiyang City, the rain was pouring. Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, looked at the tens of thousands of troops surrounding the city. He felt proud and proud. This time he sent troops to capture Jiangxia.
"This time I will never let Shiyang become the second Hefei City." Sun Quan murmured to himself on the high platform.
"Your Majesty, something is wrong!" General Zhu Ran stepped forward and said to Sun Quan.
Sun Quan asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"
"Supreme, look." Zhu Ran pointed to the opposite side
Shiyang City explained: "After two days of attack by our army, most of the Shiyang City Walls have collapsed. The Wei thieves should have taken the time to repair the city walls, but at this moment there are not many soldiers on the city wall. As for Minzhuang, there is only one person." nor."
Now that the rain and fog were filling the air, Sun Quan squinted his eyes and found that there was really no one at the top of the city. This is wrong. Even if it is raining heavily now, Wei Bing will not give up the defense of the city no matter what. Isn't Wenpin afraid that our Soochow army will take advantage of the rain to attack?
Just when Sun Quan was wondering, the few soldiers in Shiyang City suddenly disappeared without a trace. There was no soldier stationed on the entire city wall, and it seemed that they had given up resistance.
"Report, Your Majesty, the Wei soldiers on the east and west walls have disappeared. It seems that they all hid in the city." Just when Sun Quan was confused, the scouts suddenly reported the military situation on the front line.
"What?" Sun Quan asked in shock, "What the hell is Wenpin doing? Are you planning to abandon the city and flee?"
"Yifeng, what do you think?"
Zhu Ran shook his head slightly and replied: "Your Majesty, Wenpin has been in battle for a long time and is familiar with the art of war. This move must have a deep meaning. I think that the reason why Wenpin did this is to lure our army into the city, and there must be an ambush in the city. There are a large number of troops. If our army rushes into the city, we will be ambushed. Therefore, I suggest that our army wait for the detailed news to come out before making a decision."
"Yifeng's words are very fitting. Wenpin is a veteran who has been fighting for decades. Such an abnormality must be a fraud. It is better to wait for the news in the city to come out before making any calculations." Sun Quan said.
Soochow has been coveting Jiangxia for many years and has sneaked many agents into Shiyang City. Sun Quan's personal expedition this time is the time to put these agents to use. In order to let Sun Quan understand the trends of civil servants, the agents in the city will use various means to spread the news every day. outgoing.
In the afternoon, news finally came out from inside the city. In Shiyang City, not only the sergeants came down the city wall to ambush various houses and residences, but even ordinary people were hiding in their homes and were not allowed to go out without permission.
As for Wenpin himself, he was lying in bed in his house. I don't know if he was ill or harboring some big conspiracy. Because of his low rank, the full picture could not be obtained.
After hearing the report, all the generals in the tent looked at each other in shock, unable to guess what the Wei thieves were up to. Sun Quan pondered for a while and then stroked his beard and said, "Wei thieves believed that Wenpin was a loyal minister, so they entrusted Jiangxia County to him. Now that we have tens of thousands of troops here, Wenpin is hiding. If there is no conspiracy, That means the reinforcements from the Wei thieves are coming."
"Your Majesty, if Cao Wei's reinforcements arrive, they can only be from the nearest Yuzhou and Yangzhou. They will not have many troops if they arrive so quickly. Therefore, I think that we will not be afraid if reinforcements from Wei thieves alone arrive." Zhu Ran Analyzed calmly.
Sun Quan nodded when he heard this: "Even so, Wenpin may have other plans. We must be on guard. We will not attack the city for these two days until we know the movements of the Wei army before we make further calculations. It happened to be raining heavily these two days. , let the soldiers take a rest."
Sun Quan was suspicious by nature, and Wenpin's sudden attack made him dare not continue to attack the city, for fear of falling into Wenpin's female trap.
"By the way, let's order the troops to retreat three miles to prevent the Wei thieves from raiding." Sun Quan gave another order worriedly.
The generals stood up and clasped their fists in response: "No."
Just as Wu Jun was slowly retreating, half of his head poked out of the seemingly deserted Shiyang City Wall, observing Wu Jun's movements.
Seeing that the Wu army had really retreated, the man breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled: "Fei's plan to mislead the troops was in vain. It finally bought some time for the reinforcements. I hope Sun Quan's suspicion can last a little longer."
