Chapter 222 The army sets off and the man-eating net
At the end of August in the first year of Emperor Yankang of the Han Dynasty, Wei's chariot general Cao Ren personally led an army of 20,000 people to Wudang County.
This time, in order to capture Xicheng in one fell swoop, Cao Ren had brought all the mobile troops that could be mobilized from Nanyang County.
Facing an opponent like Mi Yang, Cao Ren did not dare to take it lightly, even with the cooperation of Meng Dal and others.
When Cao Ren led his army to the county town, Xiahou Shang immediately led a group of subordinates from Wudang County to pay homage to his uncle.
Facing Xiahou Shang's visit, Cao Ren had no time to greet him. The first thing he asked when he saw Xiahou Shang was:
"How is the relationship between Boren and Zidu?"
Seeing Cao Ren asking about his recent contact with Meng Da, a smile appeared on Xiahou Shang's face.
He said to Cao Ren: "Please rest assured, riders, the general strategy has been discussed with Zidu, so there will be no mistakes."
Before Cao Ren arrived with his army, Xiahou Shang was responsible for discussing with Meng Da the strategy for a joint uprising in the future.
Both Xiahou Shang and Meng Da were knowledgeable about military affairs, and Meng Da was also familiar with the terrain of Xicheng, so within a few days, the general strategy for advancing the army had been discussed.
After Xia Houshang finished speaking, he immediately took out a letter he had just written on his army strategy and gave it to Cao Ren to read.
After reading the army strategy written by Xiahou Shang, Cao Ren showed a happy smile on his face.
Cao Ren has been fighting for many years and has rich experience in leading troops. After reading it, he naturally knew that the army strategy discussed by Xiahou Shang and Meng Da was generally very appropriate.
This gave Cao Ren confidence in his actions in the next few days, and he was also delighted with the talent of his nephew Xiahou Shang.
It can be seen from this army strategy that Xiahou Shang is a piece of rough jade. If it is polished well over time, it will definitely become an optimizing pillar of Cao Wei in the future.
Since there were no problems with the army strategy discussed by Xiahou Shang and Meng Da, Cao Ren began to send troops and generals with confidence.
This time he not only brought 20,000 elite soldiers, but also most of the generals he had personally trained over the years.
Man Chong in the lobby looked at the generals in the lobby, his face was full of joy that he was bound to win, but for some reason, there was a trace of doubt in his heart.
Man Chong's doubts are not because he sees something wrong with Meng Da, but because his steady character prevents him from trusting anyone easily.
Cao Ren, who was sitting at the top, saw the doubts on Man Chong's face. Seeing that Man Chong still had a look of worry on his face when the army was about to set off, he began to feel unhappy in his heart.
In the past, Cao Ren relied heavily on Man Chong, but now that the army is about to go on an expedition, Man Chong, an important general, has doubts on his face, which will undoubtedly affect the morale of the army to a certain extent.
So when Cao Ren dispatched troops and generals and distributed tasks, he did not let Man Chong lead the army together.
He ordered Man Chong to lead some county soldiers and stay to guard Wudang County.
When Cao Ren's order was issued, although Man Chong was a little surprised, he still obeyed the order in the end.
When the other generals learned that Man Chong was assigned the task of defending the city, they couldn't help but feel secretly happy.
If one less general goes out to fight with them, there will be one less general to share the victory with them.
After assigning the tasks to the generals, Cao Ren said to the generals in the hall:
"This battle is the first battle in the establishment of a dynasty. You must fight bravely to kill the enemy and make contributions to the emperor!"
"If any general in this battle can reach the West City first, I will protect his position as general.
If anyone can capture Mi Yang alive or behead him, in addition to his position as general, I will also protect his title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!"
After Cao Ren finished his encouraging words, excitement appeared on the faces of all the generals in the hall.
They stood up one after another and bowed to Cao Ren: "My subordinates will live up to the general's expectations!"
Seeing the high spirits of the generals in the hall, Cao Ren couldn't help stroking his beard and smiling.
The military spirit is available!
A few days later, the day agreed by Xiahou Shang and Meng Da to carry out the incident had arrived.
Early this morning, tens of thousands of troops outside Wudang County lined up on both sides of the official road outside the city.
On the Han River next to Wudang County, thousands of large and small warships were docked.
Xicheng is located upstream of Wudang County. If you want to attack Xicheng, the most convenient way is to take a warship and go upstream.
At dawn, under Cao Ren's order, tens of thousands of Wei troops began to board the ship one after another.
The army inside and outside Wudang County originally numbered nearly 30,000, but now Cao Ren brought another 20,000 troops.
In addition to leaving some county soldiers to defend the city, Cao Ren's total troops for this expedition reached nearly 50,000!
He is worthy of being a chariot and cavalry general of the Wei Dynasty. What a generous act.
Cao Wei controls the richest area in the world. For Cao Wei, what they lack is not just people.
Not long after, Cao Pi personally conquered Sun Quan several times, using a total of about 100,000 troops.
During the confrontation over the Han River, the reason why Cao Cao's 100,000-strong army was somewhat stretched was because the Wei army had been fighting for years and had lost too much food, grass, and people.
But after more than half a year of training, especially with the autumn harvest in the north approaching, Cao Ren had much more troops at his disposal.
This is also the reason why Cao Cao repeatedly asked Cao Ren and Cao Pi to focus on developing internal affairs before his death.
Because if Cao Wei is given time to recover, it won't take too long, just a few years.
Then Cao Wei's national power will be qualitatively improved, thus achieving the effect of crushing the enemy.
Cao Rengao stood on the ship and looked at the tens of thousands of energetic Wei troops who were boarding the ship below. His heart was filled with pride.
If it were a head-on battle, with this army of nearly 50,000, Cao Ren would not be afraid of any of Liu Bei's generals. What's more, he still has Meng Da as his internal support?
Cao Ren was full of confidence in this expedition.
After a while, the well-trained Wei troops boarded the ship one after another under the command of their respective generals.
After tens of thousands of Wei troops boarded the warships, Cao Ren issued the order for the entire army to go out.
After watching the thousands of warships on the Han River slowly go away, Man Chong, who was standing on the top of the city, bowed far away in the direction of the Wei army.
I hope that the chariot general can successfully capture Mi Yang this time.
Meng Da, who was leading the army stationed in the Han River military stronghold, was pacing back and forth nervously in the tent.
More than a month of careful planning, more than a month of enduring humiliation, just for today.
If what happens today is accomplished, then all Mengda's efforts in the past will not be in vain, and he will even receive great rewards.
If today's matter fails, Mengda can't even imagine the consequences.
Until the last step, no one dares to say that the game set by Mi Yang will end perfectly.
Because of this concern, Meng Da looked very anxious while waiting.
The time of anxious waiting always passed slowly. Mengda didn't know how long he had been waiting in the military tent.
Then the door curtain of his military tent was pushed open by a pair of big hands, and then a majestic general walked in.
This general's name was Feng Xi, his courtesy name was Xiuyuan, and he was from Nanjun.
When Liu Bei entered Shu in the 16th year of Jian'an, Feng Xi led the army and followed Liu Bei into Shu.
During the Battle of Yiling in history, Feng Xi was appointed as the forward general by Liu Bei. At that time, Wu generals Lu Xun, Li Yi, Liu A and others stationed troops in Wu County and Zigui area.
Feng Xi and Wu Ban led their troops from Wu County, defeated Li Yi and other Soochow generals along the way, and finally advanced to Zigui.
Later, Liu Bei personally led the generals to march from Zigui to Xiaoting, and then led all the armies with Feng Xi to confront the Wu army led by Lu Xun.
Although there are not many records of Feng Xi in history, it can be seen from these two cases that Feng Xi was a brave and strategic general.
Some time ago, Feng Xi entered Hanzhong County under the leadership of Fa Miao.
They had only one purpose, which was to lead Hanzhong's army eastward and accept Mi Yang's unified dispatch.
Mi Yang had written to Liu Bei before, hoping that Liu Bei could temporarily give him the power to dispatch the Hanzhong army.
Perhaps most of the counties under Liu Bei's rule are currently recuperating.
But as Hanzhong is as important a military base as Jingzhou, Liu Bei left more than 30,000 troops there.
The more than 30,000 troops were the elite soldiers left behind after the Hanzhong War, and their combat effectiveness goes without saying.
Moreover, Hanzhong County is adjacent to Hanxing County and is connected to the Han River, so it is very convenient and fast for the army to move eastward.
And as long as arrangements are made properly, confidentiality is guaranteed to a certain extent.
After receiving Mi Yang's request, Liu Bei did not hesitate. He immediately wrote a royal order and appointed Fa Miao as an envoy to Hanzhong County to announce his royal order.
Originally, if Mi Yang wanted to mobilize the army in Hanzhong County, he could directly ask Wei Yan, the governor of Hanzhong, to coordinate the operation.
However, the previous meeting outside the west city made Mi Yang worried. Maybe Wei Yan would agree to his request to cooperate with him in fighting, but he would definitely not accept his leadership.
Once the war started, the army was not mobilized and commanded in a unified way, which was a recipe for death.
Therefore, Mi Yang directly crossed Wei Yan and asked Liu Bei for military power.
Liu Bei is a wise master. Although Mi Yang did not express it clearly in his letter, he also knew what Mi Yang's concerns were.
Therefore, he not only sent Fa Miao as an envoy, but also sent Feng Xi, Zhang Nan and many other senior generals to Hanzhong to assist Mi Yang in controlling the 30,000-strong army in Hanzhong.
Perhaps Wei Yan's character was very rebellious, but when facing Liu Bei's Wang Ling, he could only honestly hand over his military power.
The army in Hanzhong was not Wei Yan's private army, so in front of Liu Bei's Wang Ling, Feng Xi and others quickly controlled Hanzhong's 30,000 army.
A few days ago, they led an army of 30,000 people and rushed south to the outside of the West City to obey Mi Yang's orders.
It was not until yesterday that General Feng Xi, who had led his troops thousands of miles outside the West City, knew what Mi Yang's specific plan was.
After knowing Mi Yang's specific plan, everyone sighed that Mi Yang had such a big plan. No wonder the king supported him so much.
When Feng Xi came to the military tent, he said to Meng Day, who had an anxious look on his face:
"The enemy's flag of General Zhengxi has appeared."
When he heard the news, the anxious look on Meng Da's face was at its strongest for an instant, but it quickly dissipated.
Soon there was only a look of determination on his face.
The enemy has arrived and it's time to close the net.
Meng Da bowed to Feng Xi and said, "I'll leave the next thing to Xiu Yuan."
Feng Xi also saluted Meng Da in return. He admired Meng Da in front of him who did not hesitate to cut off his hair for Liu Bei's great cause.
Feng Xi said to Meng Da: "Zi Du, go away now."
After receiving Feng Xi's promise, Meng Da picked up the sword on the sword stand and strode out of the military tent.
When he arrived outside the military tent, he immediately boarded a warship.
Behind him, a thousand soldiers were already on the warship.
Meng Da glanced at the thousand soldiers behind him, and then he ordered the gate of the water village to be opened.
He led a thousand soldiers behind him and drove the warship at his feet quickly downstream.
Not far downstream from the water village, Cao Ren led an army of tens of thousands and had just arrived.
After seeing that the Han River military stronghold in front was not far away, Cao Ren ordered the tens of thousands of Wei troops to slow down.
He was waiting for Mengda's response.
According to the previous strategy with Xiahou Shang and Meng Da, after his army arrived at the Hanshui Army Stronghold, he would set up the flag of the general to conquer the west.
The title of General of the Conquest of the West was an official position awarded to Meng Da by Cao Pi. Setting up the flag of the General of the Conquest of the West was the secret code agreed between Xiahou Shang and Meng Da.
Cao Ren did not wait too long, and a warship team of hundreds of people soon appeared in Cao Ren's sight.
Looking at the flag of General Zhengxi flying high in the fleet of hundreds of people, Cao Ren had a smile on his face.
Soon after, a fleet of thousands of men led by Meng Da arrived in front of thousands of warships of the Wei army.
After hundreds of warships led by Meng Da arrived, Meng Da ordered the warships behind him to turn around.
As a result, Mengda, who was originally in front of hundreds of warships, was instead surrounded by warships from both armies.
Cao Ren didn't know Meng Da at first, but he had seen Meng Da's portrait before, and Meng Da's short hair was too conspicuous.
Cao Ren, who was standing high on the boat, saw Meng Da's behavior and the smile on his face grew stronger.
Mengda and his tribe voluntarily handed over their backs to him as a gesture of goodwill.
Then, at Meng Da's order, the hundreds of Mi Army warships that turned around all headed towards the water stronghold ahead.
Meng Da's task today is to serve as a leader and assist Cao Ren in capturing various water fortresses on the Han River.
When the hundred Mi army warships at the front headed towards the water stronghold, Cao Ren also ordered his army to follow the hundred warships in front.
As a result, such a scene appeared on the wide Han River.
Thousands of warships lined up in a row, following hundreds of warships, like a black wave pressing towards the military stronghold ahead.
When Cao Ren's thousands of warships arrived at the water stronghold, Cao Ren found that the gate to the water stronghold that had been bothering him for a long time had already been opened.
Seeing this scene, Xia Houshang beside Cao Ren excitedly said to Cao Ren:
"If there is no water stronghold to stop us, how can Mi Yang resist our tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers?"
Hearing Xiahou Shang's words, Cao Ren also had a smile on his face and nodded towards Xiahou Shang.
Soon after, hundreds of Mi army warships, ahead of thousands of Wei army warships, took the lead in sailing into the undefended water stronghold.
Upon seeing this, Cao Ren quickly ordered the thousands of warships behind him to speed up.
Cao Ren was worried that the gate of the water village that had previously blocked him and his army from entering would suddenly close.
At Cao Ren's urging, thousands of Wei army warships sailed into the deserted water stronghold.
But what Cao Ren didn't know was that the huge and quiet water village was like a big net slowly opening.
This net can eat people.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!