Chapter 1173: Strangulation
In April of the fourth year of Yanxi's reign, the weather began to get a little hot.
The nominal capital of Wei State, Luoyang, Taifu's Mansion.
Sima Shi hurriedly entered Sima Yi’s study with a secret message:
“Sir, there is news from the south. The Wu soldiers are divided into three groups and are attacking the north in large numbers!”
“Huh? Have you finally taken action?”
Sima Yi, who was reading with a scroll in his hand, did not tremble at all when he heard Sima Shi's report.
I saw him raising his head, his expression unchanged:
“Have you ever found out how many soldiers and horses the Wu invaders used in this attack?”
Master Sima handed over the secret message and replied:
"My lord, I don't have an accurate figure yet, but according to the information obtained by the spies, some say there are two hundred thousand, some say three hundred thousand, and even the whole country's soldiers."
"My lord, why don't you read the secret letter sent from Xuchang first? Maybe it's mentioned in it."
Sima Yi put down the scroll, took the secret letter, opened the mud seal on it, took out the letter paper and read it.
After a while, he stroked his beard thoughtfully:
"It seems that this time, the Wu invaders are indeed quite powerful. According to the news from Xuchang, Wang Yanyun (ie Wang Ling) reported that the Wu invaders in Huainan alone have no less than 150,000 troops."
Judging from the current situation, Wu Guobing invaded the north in three directions.
The army was led by Sun Quan personally and attacked Hefei from Chaohu.
Zhuge Ke led his army to attack Lu'an County along the way.
The last route was led by Zhuge Jin and Bu Zhao to attack Pizhong in Jingzhou (later known as Nanzhang in Hubei Province).
“Sir, this can be considered a full-scale Northern crime!”
Sima Shi heard Sima Yi’s explanation and immediately understood:
“It seems that Wang Yanyun’s statement that there are 150,000 Wu invaders from the north in Huainan is true.”
Sima Yi did not respond. He read the secret letter carefully, then stood up and walked back and forth a few steps.
Finally, he asked:
“Where is Lu Xun?”
Sima Shi was startled: "Lu Xun?"
"Yes, what about Lu Xun? If the Wu invaders really invaded the whole country, then why didn't Lu Xun, the most knowledgeable among the generals of the Wu state, make any move?"
Sima Yi said, shaking his head: "This is unreasonable."
If we talk about the most feared Wu general in Wei, it must be Lu Xun.
If the state of Wu really wanted to attack with all its troops, Sun Quan would have no reason to let people like Lu Xun go.
Sima Shijing reacted immediately after Sima Yi reminded him:
“Sir, are you saying that the Wu people are deceitful?”
Sima Yi smiled, with a slight look of disdain on his face:
"As the saying goes, soldiers are crafty. The reason is to be crafty in front of the formation."
"Not to mention, the Wu people have always been fond of doing deceitful things. There is no time when they are not deceitful, but rather abnormal."
Sima Shi thought so and asked:
“Sir, should we remind Xuchang?”
Although Luoyang and Xuchang are as close as fire and water, they both belong to the Wei State after all.
Whether it is the Han State or the Wu State, they are all sworn enemies of the Wei Dynasty, and they will never stop fighting.
They will not be partial to either of them just because Luoyang and Xuchang are at odds.
Master Sima still understands the principle of "Brothers are jealous of each other within the wall, and they should be protected from their insults outside".
If something goes wrong in Xuchang and the Wu people can't be stopped, then Luoyang will be attacked from the front and back sooner or later.
Unexpectedly, Sima Yi raised his head slightly, as if he was thinking about something. After a while, he shook his head:
“No hurry, no rush for this moment.”
"grown ups?"
Sima Shi was a little confused.
“Although Lu Xun knew the strength of the army, he was more than capable of defending but not aggressive enough.”
Sima Yi actually had a hint of joy in his tone:
“Whether it was the battle at Shiting or leading the troops to attack Liu’an, it can be seen that if this person is allowed to defend the territory, there will be almost no opponent in the world.”
"But if this person is allowed to attack the city, it will only be a matter of hearing, and there is nothing to fear."
Sima Yi stroked his beard and continued:
“In my opinion, if Sun Quan uses Lu Xun as a surprise soldier, even if he can achieve a temporary miraculous effect, it will only be able to take some advantage, and it will not be enough to reverse the general trend.”
“Moreover, on the Huainan side, Wang Yanyun (Wang Ling), Wen Zhongruo (Wen Qin), Tian Guorang (Tian Yu) and others are all not mediocre. They will defend according to the geographical advantage, and there will be no problem."
At this point, his eyes flickered:
"At worst, we let Cao Zhaobo (Cao Shuang) suffer some losses first, and when the time is right, we can remind him again. It's not a bad thing."
Sima Shi understood and agreed:
"It is indeed a good thing to be able to take advantage of the situation to attack Cao Zhaobo without affecting the general situation."
Although in just a few words, Sima Yi confirmed the situation in the south.
But there was still a bit of worry between his brows:
"There is no need to worry about things in the south. After all, the Wu bandits are just rats. What I am worried about is in the west."
Hearing his master mention the west side, Master Sima, who was originally beaming, became depressed.
Sima Yi sighed:
"No matter how deceitful Wu Guo is, his vision is short-sighted and there is nothing to fear."
“But the Han Kingdom to the west is our real thorn in the side, a catastrophe of life and death.”
Wu people like to cheat, but they forget their justice when they see small gains, and are easily satisfied with the immediate benefits.
The Han Dynasty is good at being cunning, but it has great plans. It will not give up until the Wei Dynasty is destroyed.
It just so happened that before the Han Dynasty, there was Zhuge Kongming, who knew how to manage changes, was good at managing national affairs, was upright and strategic, and acted according to the general trend.
Later, there was Feng Mingwen, who was far-sighted and erratic in his plans, and his actions were beyond common sense, leaving people at a loss as to what to do.
And what Luoyang has to face is exactly this kind of powerful enemy - I really want to switch with Xuchang and change the enemy!
“The Han State on the other side of the river should probably take action, right?”
Sima Yi looked towards the west with a faint gaze, as if he wanted to look at the land east of the river through time and space.
Wu State's early troop mobilization can also be covered up by recruiting civilians and building water conservancy projects.
However, the Han Dynasty's movements in Hedong were not concealed.
“As early as last month, the Han imperial army had already stationed in Hedong. It seems that the two countries, Han and Wu, had already conspired to attack the Wei Dynasty from a flank."
Master Sima thought of the news that came from Hedong a few days ago, and his face became more and more serious:
“The Han State has even dispatched its imperial army. Even if it is not like the Wu State, which invades the north with all its strength, I am afraid that the movement will not be small.”
“I just don’t know which direction Feng Mingwen plans to come from this time…”
Sima Master has never met Feng Mingwen, but his famous name is like thunder.
Think about it carefully, how old is Feng Mingwen?
I heard that he is about the same age as me.
Rao was Sima Shi killed his wife, and he was extremely ruthless.
But when he mentioned Feng, his tone still contained a lot of fear involuntarily.
Especially, his younger brother Sima Zhao went to Chang'an and met Feng Mingwen once. Even though he was an enemy, he still praised Feng Mingwen full of praise.
The information passed down by outsiders may seem a little unreal.
But if you switch to the people around you, your feelings will naturally be more profound.
But when Sima Yi heard Sima Shi's words, he showed a somewhat uncertain look on his face, even with a relaxed smile:
“Feng Mingwen, I don’t think he will personally lead the invasion this time.”
Sima Shi was startled:
“Why is this?”
The State of Wu caused such a big commotion, and the State of Han also sent out its imperial army, and it didn't look like it was giving up.
“Don’t worry about this.”
Sima Yi waved his hand, "As long as you know that the leader of the Han Dynasty this time is Wei Yan, that is enough."
When Master Sima heard what his master said, he knew that it involved a secret that he could not know yet, so he did not dare to ask any more questions.
However, upon hearing that Feng Mingwen did not lead the army, Master Sima breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously:
“The Wu people came with an army, but the Han people just pretended to be powerful. It seems that the alliance between the two countries is nothing more than this.”
Sima Yi smiled calmly:
"Of course it is. When the Han State invaded Guanzhong with all its troops, didn't the Wu State also want to take advantage of the fishermen?"
“In the past, if the Wu people had not deliberately reduced the troops in Jingzhou, how could the troops in Wancheng have come to aid Guanzhong from Wuguan?”
Sima Yi couldn't help but sigh when he mentioned what happened back then.
It’s just a pity!
After all the calculations, Feng Thief could actually lead his army across thousands of miles and launch a surprise attack on Bingzhou, directly threatening the retreat of the Guanzhong army.
Finally, he was forced to lead the army to withdraw from Guanzhong.
Sima Master didn't think so much.
Although I don’t know how your Excellency determined that Feng Mingwen did not lead the army this time, your Excellency has rarely made mistakes for a long time.
So Master Sima also believed in your Lord’s judgment this time.
“If Feng Mingwen doesn’t come, doesn’t that mean we don’t have to worry too much this time?”
"You can't say that yet." Sima Yi waved his hand, "Although Wei Yan is not as good as Feng Mingwen, he is still a rare and powerful general in the Han Dynasty."
"If you really look down on this person, you may suffer a big loss."
In the past, Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Liang were fighting on the Wugong River. Zhuge Liang sent Wei Yan to cross the water to fight. Without noticing, he lost thousands of armored men under this man.
Hence, Sima Yi also had a deep impression on Wei Yan.
When Master Sima heard this, he realized that he was indeed a little careless. He was shocked and responded quickly.
Then he asked:
"Where do you think Wei Yan will attack from?"
“Nothing more than Zhiguan, Gaodu, and Yecheng.”
The Han imperial army entered Hedong last month, so the Han army may want to test Zhiguan.
In the past few months, the Han troops in Hedong and Shangdang have mobilized frequently, forming an oppressive force against Gaodu.
Now that Wei Yan is personally sitting in the town party, it may not be impossible to send troops eastward from Huguan.
Sima Master can understand the first two situations, but he can't believe the third possibility:
"From Huguan to Yecheng? Does he want to follow the Zhang River and cross the Taihang Mountains? Wei Yan is a general of the Han Dynasty, how dare he take such a bold risk?"
Yecheng is right on the edge of the Zhang River. It does not mean that it is impossible to follow the Zhang River through the Taihang Mountains and reach Yecheng.
This road is really difficult to walk.
The long-term erosion of Zhangshui River is like an extremely sharp knife, cutting a huge wound in Taihang Mountain.
This wound is what later generations called the Taihang Mountain Grand Canyon.
Nearly two thousand years later, this canyon is still extremely dangerous.
Let alone the Three Kingdoms era.
If not, after Cao Cao captured Yecheng, why didn't he go directly from Yecheng to the west along the Zhang River, but instead took a long detour and took Taihangxing from Hanoi to capture Huguan?
It is because this canyon is more difficult to navigate than Taihangxing.
“The enemy attacks and we defend, the enemy is strong and we are weak, no matter how slim the possibility is, we must be prepared to take precautions.”
“It’s not surprising that Feng Thief was able to cross the desert and attack Bingzhou, and Wei Yan took a dangerous road to attack Yecheng.”
Sima Yi sighed, "It's just Yecheng...alas!"
Yecheng is the founding place of Wei State, and now it is under the orders of Xuchang instead of Luoyang.
But if Yecheng really loses, Hanoi will be surrounded on three sides, and the defensive pressure will increase exponentially, which makes Sima Yi find it quite difficult.
Seeing the lord's difficulties and worries, Master Sima advised:
"My lord, why are you doing this? It's difficult for apes to walk in the Zhangshui Gorge. Even if Wei Yan really wants to attack Ye City by surprise, he won't be able to lead many troops."
"Yecheng has high walls and thick walls. As long as you are prepared and don't get taken advantage of by thieves, you don't have to worry too much."
The key to taking a dangerous route to make a surprise attack is to be unprepared.
Since you can expect that Wei Yan may attack Yecheng, as long as you inform the people in Yecheng and prepare them, Wei Yan will naturally lose the surprise.
Unexpectedly, Sima Yi shook his head:
"I'm not worried about Yecheng, but I feel that it is a hidden danger that Cao Zhaobo is in charge of Yecheng when it is not in our hands."
Cao Shuang is just a dandy.
The people we use should not be asked about their talents, but should be close to them first.
Even if we can defend it this time, what if Feng Mingwen personally takes action next time?
Even Sima Yi himself did not dare to say that he could guard against this person.
After saying these words, Sima Yi's eyes flashed with light and he fell into deep thought.
Just when Henan and Hanoi were preparing for Ji Han, Jiang Wei was leading his army from Yize, walking along the mountain roads and heading towards Gaodu.
To the north of Gaodu, there is also a Han army, starting from Shangdang and heading south. Its destination is also Gaodu.
Hedong, Zhang Bao led the southern army and began to continue eastward, approaching Zhiguan.
Obviously, this was not only to contain the Wei army in Zhiguan, Hanoi, but also to prevent the Wei army in Zhiguan from coming out and attacking Hedong.
If someone were to look down at the land of China from above, they would find that there were at least six armies in Huainan, Jingzhou, Hedong, Shangdang and other places.
Like a noose, ready to strangle Wei from different directions.
In Luoyang City, Sima Yi closed his eyes and meditated, as steady as an old dog, waiting for the exact direction of the Han army's attack from ahead.
And in Xuchang City, the obese Cao Shuang climbed down from the body of a talented woman of the late emperor, panting:
“Sun Quan appeared in the old city of Hefei? It seems that Wang Yanyun (i.e. Wang Ling) guessed correctly. He divided his troops into three groups and ultimately wanted to attack Hefei.”
Hefei Old City, Xiaoyaojin, a five-story building ship, the height of the ship is almost as high as the collapsed city wall of Hefei Old City.
Sun Quan stood on the bow of the boat, holding a whip, and looked northward along the Shishui River. His face suddenly turned gloomy and clear.
The lower floors of the tower ship were filled with soldiers of the Wu army, standing with swords in hand, waiting for military orders at any time.
(End of this chapter)