Chapter 1185 Covenant Trust Crisis
Before Cao Rui, the puppet emperor of Wei, was still alive, he lamented:
"Qishan, Xiangyang, and Hefei are the key areas for controlling the Shu and Wu thieves. If the thieves want to invade from the north, they must first defeat these three areas."
"Qi Mountain has been destroyed now, so the Shu invaders are rampant and cannot be controlled. If Xiangyang and Hefei are lost again, how can we suppress the Wu invaders?"
It was precisely because of the recognition of the importance of the three places that when Man Chong proposed abandoning the old city and building a new city, it almost failed.
After all, with the lessons learned from Qishan, if Hefei New City cannot stop the Wu invaders, the Wei Dynasty will really be in trouble.
Xiangyang and Hefei were like two great emperors, one in the west and the other in the east, so that the head and tail of Wu could not move.
Over the years, Sun Quan has been defeated repeatedly in battles, and he has to go north every year to fight for Hefei. Naturally, he saw this and wanted to find a way to break the situation.
As for Xiangyang, although there is less movement, it does not mean that Sun Quan does not know its importance.
It’s just that Jingzhou was the site of the Four Wars, and at the same time it was a wound that could never be healed between Han and Wu.
The alliance between the two countries only temporarily covered this wound, but did not heal it.
Although Wu State occupied most of Jingzhou, there was Xiangyang to the north of Jiangling and Yong'an to the west.
Let the land of Jingzhou form a small tripartite force of the Three Kingdoms.
Sun Quan, who was accustomed to backstabbing and had a guilty conscience, mainly defended Xiangyang in the north, but in fact he also secretly defended Shu.
In this case, he naturally did not dare to mobilize too many troops to go north, for fear that the Han army would suddenly flow down the river from Yong'an and fight another battle of Yiling to avenge the past.
So whether or not to cooperate with Wu to capture Xiangyang is a big deal for both Han and Wu countries.
It is not only a true test of the level of trust between the two countries.
At the same time, it is also a test of the ability of the decision-makers of the two countries to grasp the future situation.
Such a major national matter cannot be decided easily.
After seeing off the queen, Feng Duhu and his wives came to the combat command room and once again deduce the situation after Wu State captured Xiangyang through the huge map.
Feng Duhu couldn’t help but sigh:
“Lu Xun is indeed very powerful.”
Although as a representative of Jiangdong, he is relatively conservative in strategy, somewhat unwilling to make progress, and just wants to settle down in Jiangnan.
But it has to be said that if this person does not take action, it will be a killing move.
Mrs. Zuo stared at the map and said with some reluctance:
“Can we send troops from Hanzhong and take Xiangfan into our own hands?”
“It’s possible, but it will have to wait three years.”
In fact, Feng Duhu was also reluctant, "We have to wait until the students who went to Soochow to study come back, and then we can build ships in Hanzhong."
“At that time, the boat division will go down the river from Hanzhong, and at the same time the army will leave Wuguan from Guanzhong to attack Wancheng. If they advance by water and land, Wancheng and Xiangfan will definitely be able to descend in one go.”
Hanzhong's naval forces harassed on the water and could even cut off the connection between Xiangyang and Wancheng.
The Han army can attack the undefeated Wancheng with all its strength.
Even if Cao Shuang sends reinforcements from Xuchang, the Han Dynasty's best option is to follow Emperor Guangwu's example and fight another Battle of Kunyang in the northeast of Wancheng.
No, there is no need to fight the Battle of Kunyang. On the flat land of Nanyang Basin, the Han cavalry has nothing to fear.
As long as Wei's reinforcements dare to come, Feng Duhu will dare to destroy them.
Perhaps, after annihilating Xuchang's reinforcements, the Han Dynasty can directly attack Xuchang City.
"Snapped!"
Feng Duhu slapped the location of Xiangfan on the map and said angrily:
“Lu Xun’s appearance has completely ruined my plans for the next three years!”
Mrs. Zuo also looked unhappy.
The right lady has little contact with military matters. She stood in front of the map and looked at it for a long time before saying quietly:
“Who knew that Lu Xun’s move had not already anticipated Alang’s plan? From my point of view, at least he was prepared for it.”
"After this battle, those students should also return to their country, right?"
“We have promised the State of Wu that we will not deploy too many warships in Yong’an, so where will these students be placed?”
“Naturally, it can only be Hanzhong upstream of Xiangfan, because that is the only place where the Han Dynasty’s navy can use its force.”
“Controlling Xiangyang, you can plan for Wei when you advance, and defend the south of the Yangtze River when you retreat. At the same time, you can contain the Han Dynasty, and even limit the route of the Han Dynasty to seize the world in the future.”
“It can even render the Han Dynasty Navy useless in a short period of time…”
Unless the Han Dynasty takes the initiative to tear up the alliance, breaks its promise to the world, and wants to seize Xiangyang and even Jingzhou from Wu.
Otherwise, even if the Han Dynasty established a naval division in Hanzhong, it would only be able to wander around Hanzhong.
After saying so much in one breath, the right lady concluded: "If it were me, I would do the same thing."
Governor Feng’s expression changed slightly, and he couldn’t help but cursed:
“What a **** plan!”
In this case, wouldn’t the students sent out by themselves have to be delayed for at least a few more years?
Luckily, I sent so many supplies to Wu State, allowing them to study in Wu State for one more year.
Hearing Mrs. Right’s analysis, Feng Duhu became more and more certain that Lu Xun’s move must have been intentional.
Wu Guo planned to take control of Xiangyang before his students came back.
It seems that Wu Guo's old habit of backstabbing has started to happen again in response to the Han's successive victories.
While trying to use the big man to help them gain benefits, they also secretly held back the big man.
Compared with Feng Duhu's anger at being plotted against, Mrs. Zuo was much more realistic in terms of military matters.
Although she was unwilling to do so, since it was impossible for the Han Dynasty to capture Xiangyang, she quickly turned to the military level to consider the pros and cons.
Looking at the sand table and map for a while, she suddenly sneered:
“It is said that Wu people are like rats with short-sightedness, and this statement is indeed justified.”
"So what if they take Xiangyang? So what if the Han can't go to Wancheng to capture Xuchang?"
"As long as Youzhou can be captured in an honest and fair manner, the land of horses in the world will be in the hands of the Han Dynasty."
"The Wei thieves can't stop the Han army. Do the people of Wu want to stop the Han from regaining the world with the help of the great river?"
Mrs. Right agreed with Mrs. Left, but saw her smile slightly:
“The Han Dynasty has no way to take Xiangyang now, and the Wu people have no way to take Youzhou.”
"Lu Xun's move may seem wise, but it's actually just a helpless move. Why should Alang be so angry?"
Her eyes moved, and she persuaded in a slow voice:
“Lu Xun is also a famous general of the Wu Kingdom. How could he not see the current general trend?”
“He wants to make a difference, so naturally he is not willing to be tied down, which is also human nature.”
“After all, we can’t take advantage of all the advantages in the world.”
Hearing what the two ladies said, Feng Duhu said "Oh", looked at them and asked:
"According to the wishes of the two gentlemen, do you also agree that I will lead the army to Wuguan?"
“It’s not just a trip to Wuguan.”
Mrs. Zuo, who had been deep in thought, picked up the whip and pointed at the location of Wancheng:
“Although the Wei thieves abandoned Wuguan Pass, they rebuilt Caoqiao Pass on the southeast side of Wuguan Road.”
Caoqiao Pass is the Jingzi Pass in later generations.
In 304 BC, this place came under the jurisdiction of the Chu State. The King of Chu sent Prince Jing to guard this place, so the place was named Jingzikou.
Wuguan belonged to Qin, and Jingzikou belonged to Chu.
At that time, they were the most important pass on the border between Qin and Chu on Wuguan Road.
During the Han Dynasty, there was a wooden bridge on the former site of Jingzikou for business travelers to pass through Danshui, so this place was called Caoqiao Pass.
There are high mountains between Wuguan and Caoqiao Pass, and only Danshui passes through them, connecting the two places.
Most of the Wuguan Road before the Tang Dynasty overlapped with the river valleys washed by Danshui.
“Even if the Han Dynasty cannot go from Wuguan to Wancheng to capture Xuchang in the future, they must still be prepared to contain Xiangyang.”
"If not, when the Han Dynasty moves from the north to the south to destroy Wei, Wu will be able to sneak attack Wancheng, Xuchang and other places from Xiangyang without any scruples."
Mrs. Zuo said, placing the long whip heavily on the Caoqiao Pass.
"Snapped!"
“So, if the Han Dynasty wants to completely control Wuguan Road, Caoqiao Pass must be captured.”
"The Wu people control Xiangyang and prevent the Han from attacking Xuchang from Wancheng. Then we must also prevent them from easily going north from Wancheng."
Feng Duhu touched his chin and said thoughtfully:
“In other words, it’s impossible not to take this trip...”
The right lady chuckled:
“Jingzhou is a place with three pillars. If the Wu people want to capture Xiangyang, the Han Dynasty cannot just watch. If they can really capture Caoqiao Pass, it will be good.”
Well, the Han Dynasty took Caoqiao Pass, and the Wu State took Xiangyang, so the world where only the Wei thieves were injured was achieved?
Feng Duhu nodded:
“After hearing the words of the two gentlemen, something suddenly dawned on me. In that case, I will lead the troops to Wuguan.”
"The key problem is that with just the few defenders at Wuguan, we may not be able to capture Caoqiao Pass. If we want to capture Caoqiao Pass, we will have to mobilize additional troops."
Although the current Han Dynasty has a vast territory, its military strength is still the same as that of the Battle of Guanzhong. At most, it has added some Hu Qiyi from Bingzhou.
This is one of the reasons why Feng Duhu has always opposed the use of troops in Hedong now.
Even though it has been so long since the Han Dynasty regained Guanzhong, Feng Duhu knew that the time to use troops again was still far from coming.
After the death of the prime minister, the people in the army were already unstable.
Coupled with the fact that Feng Duhu took over the frontline army, Wei Yan, the top general of the Hanzhong Army, was at odds with him, and his accompanying army commander Shi Yangyi even fled to Wei.
The impact on the military is really great.
Forced Feng Duhu to focus on appeasing the hearts of the troops.
When the Wei army withdrew from Guanzhong, they destroyed Tongguan and Wuguan.
Feng Duhu had to mobilize manpower to repair it.
Manpower will also be sent to clean up Weiyang Palace.
At the same time, we must also repair the Zhengguo Canal to prepare for the resumption of production in the future.
Following this, the emperor moved the capital, and hundreds of officials and offices moved with him, which was even more complicated.
After the emperor moved the capital, he had to start the post-war governance issues, pacify, rectify, and subdue the many aristocratic families in Bingzhou and Hedong in Guanzhong.
No matter what method is used, whether it is to make the aristocratic family bow their heads, to make them cooperate, to induce or even to intimidate and dismember them, etc.
With the remaining power of a great victory, only by getting them to cooperate and re-measure the land and the household registration population can we get twice the result with half the effort, and better implement the policy of dividing a small person into an acre.
So it was not until last year that the measures to redistribute land to the people in the three new places (Guanzhong and Bingzhou and Hedong) could be fully carried out.
Even some of the people who were in charge of surveying the land were the children of aristocratic families who were college students or preparatory students.
Even if the people are driven like cattle, horses and donkeys, it still takes time to make crops grow in the fields.
It is not counted to grow crops, and it is necessary to allow the people to have enough remaining food at least for at least two or three years to save the rations for a year.
Only by making the people truly feel the favor of the court, can we further recruit young men into the army.
Otherwise, the family's strong labor force will be gone, and if there is another disaster or accident, refugees will appear...
If not, even if young men are forcibly recruited into the army, how much will they have to fight?
How different is this from the oppression of farmers by Wei thieves?
Hence, what Ji Han is currently implementing is a military system that combines the conscription system and the recruitment system.
Having a household registration means that the land will be divided. Those who have a household registration and land, if they meet the conditions, must be selected for military service.
The military service lasts for four years, and one year is spent guarding the county. This is the county soldier, and at the same time he receives formal military training.
In the remaining three years, he will be transferred to the Central Army to participate in foreign operations.
These four years of military service are compulsory, and pensions are only available unless someone is killed in battle or disabled.
However, in the Central Army, they can receive cultural education. If they enter the engineering camp, they can even learn certain skills, which is a rare benefit.
If you serve for more than four years, you can receive a military salary from the court to support your family.
If you are lucky and can achieve enough military exploits, you can also be allocated "military land".
Military fields are not distributed to individuals in real terms, but are converted into money and grain based on the average price of grain in various places on the exchange and distributed to individuals.
Similarly, these money and grains can also be delivered to your home as required - Dongfeng Express, the mission will be fulfilled.
The system of generous rewards for those who have made outstanding military achievements is the guarantee for maintaining the strong combat effectiveness of the Han army.
To maintain these systems, there must be two most important foundations:
The first is to have enough troops, and the second is to have enough financial resources.
Fortunately, in recent years, with the rapid development of emerging industries, coupled with the improvement of production tools and so on.
The most important thing is the increase in grain production, which is the lowest foundation to ensure that the Han Dynasty's finances are sound.
As for the source of troops, normally speaking, based on Ji Han's situation, it is indeed a big problem.
However, this problem was resolved by the Han Yi Ruyi, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, and the kindness and power of Feng Mou to the Hu Yi.
The Yi people in the south and the Hu people in the north, driven by huge interests, not only provided a steady stream of labor force to the Han Dynasty.
Moreover, they actively joined the Han army in the hope of leaping across social classes and finding a better way to survive for future generations.
Wu Dangjun and Yi Congqi are the main representatives.
Although Feng's methods were sometimes harsh, he did bring many changes to the Hu Yi in the border areas and gave them more ways to survive.
Some Hu Yi regard it as an evil ghost, but there are also more Hu Yi who regard it as a god.
Ji Han's emphasis on military merit caused all Han people who wanted to stand up, let alone Hu Yi, to flock to him.
The benefits of the unity of Han and Yi are reflected at this time.
Because the rewards for military merit do not distinguish between Han and Hu.
However, no matter how good the policy is, it must have a prerequisite and foundation for implementation, and in Xinfu and other places, the conditions are not yet mature.
This requires the big man to wait a few more years.
With the current strength of the Han Dynasty, it is already difficult to disperse and defend various places.
Just like the Jiuyuan Dudufu, which governs such a vast grassland, it only has 5,000 troops - including 2,000 Hu cavalry followers.
If it weren't for Feng who slaughtered tens of thousands of Xianbei elite cavalry, completely breaking the backbone of the Xianbei people, and frightening Jiuyuan Hu'er's courage.
Whether Jiuyuan will be as stable and peaceful as it is now is still a question.
So it is indeed a bit reluctant for the Han Dynasty to concentrate its forces to launch a war.
"We can't wait to recruit troops from elsewhere, so we can only mobilize troops from Guanzhong."
As a strategic reserve force, part of Chang'an's Forbidden Army has been transferred and was taken to Hedong by Uncle Zhang.
The rest cannot be touched lightly.
Besides, infantry is needed to attack a city, and cavalry is obviously not suitable.
Mrs. Zuo clicked on Tongguan, "How about deploying some of the guards at Tongguan?"
"Now that we have heavily deployed troops in Hedong, the Wei thieves will definitely not dare to take it lightly."
“Coupled with the dangerous location of Tongguan, even if part of the troops are temporarily transferred, as long as the garrison inside the pass guards the city tightly, there shouldn’t be much of a problem.”
There is something else that General Zuo did not say completely.
That is the imperial army left in Chang'an, which is enough to deal with unexpected events - including Wei thieves unexpectedly breaking into Guanzhong.
As long as the imperial army can hold Chang'an and drag the Hedong army and Feng Duhu back, there is no need to worry about anything.
Not to mention whether the Wei thieves dare to fight the imperial army in Guanzhong, that is a question.
Feng Duhu pondered for a while and nodded:
“It seems that’s the only thing.”
Although Caoqiao Pass can be regarded as a pass, it mainly relies on Danshui and is far less dangerous than Wuguan.
The terrain of Wuguandao is mostly a river valley, making it difficult to deploy military lines, but there is no need to lead too many troops there.
"The guards at Wuguan, Ju Xiaoxing (also known as Jufu) and Meng Angxiong (also known as Meng Yan), are loyal and brave people, and they are both on good terms with Alang. There is no need to worry about having no one available for Alang's trip."
“But I don’t know who Alang plans to transfer from Tongguan?”
Now that we have decided to send troops, the next step is to decide who to take.
Mrs. Zuo had no intention of following this time.
First of all, she also has the identity of General Zhendong.
Feng Duhu personally took action, which already gave Lu Xun face. If there was another Guan Zhendong sweeping Bingzhou and Hedong, Lu Xun's face would be too great.
Secondly, Mrs. Zuo will stay at the Central Protector's Mansion to handle the military affairs in the mansion.
"Let Xinhou (Li Qiu) lead the army over, and give him a place to join the army. Liu Xiuran (Liu Yin) will stay at Tongguan, and I will feel more at ease."
Feng Duhu is the commander-in-chief, Li Qiu joins the army, and Jufu and Meng Yan are deputy generals. This lineup is luxurious enough to deal with a mere Caoqiao Pass.
(End of this chapter)