Chapter 267 Northern Expedition Strategy Guan Gong’s Condition
After Cao Pi sat down, Cao Pi had a questioning look on his face.
"Jia Gong, how are you doing with Marquis Wu De?"
The Marquis of Wu De mentioned by Cao Pi was his eldest son Cao Rui.
When Cao Pi asked about his opinion of Cao Rui, Jia Xu, who was opposite Cao Pi, looked groggy and seemed unable to hear Cao Pi's words.
However, Cao Pi knew very well what kind of person Jia Xu was, so he continued to speak: "In those days, Duke Jia helped me ascend to the throne of the crown prince, so after I succeeded to the throne, I immediately worshiped Duke Jia as the crown prince as a reward."
"If Mr. Jia can appoint the king of the Wei Dynasty for three generations now, I guarantee that the future kings of the Wei Dynasty will definitely take care of the descendants of Mr. Jia."
After hearing Cao Pi make such a promise, Jia Xu immediately opened his cloudy eyes and said to Cao Pi:
"Marquis Wu De is talented and far-sighted, and his achievements in the future will surely be limitless!"
Cao Pi was a little surprised by Jia Xu's words. He didn't expect Cao Rui to have such a high opinion in Jia Xu's heart.
But he was well aware of Jia Xu's intelligence, and of course he trusted Jia Xu's judgment.
After getting the answer he wanted, Cao Pi was speechless for a while.
Then he asked Jia Xu to leave.
When Jia Xu stood up and walked tremblingly to the door, Cao Pi's words suddenly reached Jia Xu's ears.
"Tomorrow I will ask Yanlong to draw up an edict and confer the title of Duke of Qi on the Marquis of Pingyuan. I will worship you as the Duke of Qi, Duke Jia."
Cao Pi's words stopped Jia Xu in his tracks.
Although Jia Xu was old, he heard Cao Pi's words very clearly in the silent hall.
But Jia Xu only hesitated for a moment, then took up heavy steps and walked out again.
Jia Xu understood the deep meaning of Cao Pi's words.
This was Cao Pi's new reward for him, and it was also a task given to him by Cao Pi.
Perhaps it was the consecutive defeats that made the emperor, who had just ascended the throne, realize something.
After Jia Xu left, Cao Pi stood up alone in the empty hall, his expression already indifferent.
Cao Pi rubbed the hilt of the sword at his waist with his fingers. His sword was the Yitian Sword that had been with Cao Cao for decades.
The Yitian Sword followed Cao Cao for decades. As Cao Cao's status and power continued to increase, the Yitian Sword gradually became regarded as a symbol of Cao Cao.
In Cao Cao's later years, he once tested the scholars at a banquet. The test question was based on the word "Yitian" on his sword, which expressed his own ambition.
All the ministers were also present at that time, and among Cao Cao's sons, two of them gave the most gratifying answers.
Cao Pi, who was still the prince of Wei at the time, replied: "The long sword is leaning against the sky. I am willing to use the square land as a chariot and the round sky as a cover to attack the four directions with the sword."
Even though Cao Pi's answer was already amazing at the time, Cao Zhi's answer, whose literary talent was even better than Cao Pi's, was even more amazing.
"Conquering all the barbarians, drinking dry rivers and seas; traveling across the nine states, there is no place to stop;
The ambition is great, and the sorrow cannot last long. If you rely on the sky in your hand, the whole world will worship you."
Cao Pi still can't forget the satisfaction and appreciation in Cao Cao's eyes after hearing Cao Zhi's answer.
He knew that he had never been Cao Cao's ideal successor.
Because he knew this, after he succeeded to the throne, he always wanted to prove that he was the best among the sons of Emperor Wu of Wei by establishing great achievements.
But two big defeats undoubtedly made him realize something, and at the same time made him even more mentally exhausted.
Cao Pi's fingers rubbed the hilt of the Yitian Sword faster and faster. Cao Pi, who was deep in thought about the past, seemed to see that stalwart figure standing in front of him, with a look of disappointment on his face.
Is the person entrusted by Yitian Sword to someone else?
If Cao Pi had this kind of hallucination in the past, he would be panicked because of the fear of Cao Cao in his heart, but now that he has become the emperor, Cao Pi's mentality has changed a lot.
His awe of Cao Cao has gradually dissipated, replaced by the urge to prove himself more and more.
In the end, Cao Pi just said firmly in his heart:
Father and clan are no longer of much use.
Next, the son will lead Wei to a new path according to his own ideas.
Now he, Cao Pi, is the helmsman of the Wei Dynasty!
After proclaiming himself emperor and establishing the country, Cao Pi, who suffered two consecutive defeats, valued Zhang Liao's expedition very seriously.
Because he valued him, Cao Pi could hand over the command of the 30,000-strong Chinese army to Zhang Liao without hesitation.
Because he valued Zhang Liao so much, on the day of Zhang Liao's expedition, Cao Pi, the emperor, personally came outside Wancheng to see him off.
Before Zhang Liao led his army to leave, Cao Pi held his hand tightly many times and gave Zhang Liao royal robes in public, constantly showing favor to Zhang Liao.
The current Wei Dynasty needs a victory so much.
Even if victory cannot be achieved, as long as Zhang Liao's reinforcements can help prevent Guan Yu from taking Fancheng, the result will still be beneficial to the Wei Dynasty.
So now Cao Pi can be said to be responsive to Zhang Liao's requests.
When Zhang Liao faced Cao Pi's favor towards him, he naturally burst into tears of gratitude.
After all, although Cao Cao valued his talents when he was still alive, he had never been so kind to him.
As for why Cao Pi favored him so much, the smart Zhang Liao certainly knew it, so Cao Pi's performance undoubtedly increased his emphasis on the upcoming journey.
When the time for the expedition arrived, Cao Pi let Zhang Liao leave with great anticipation.
As Zhang Liao led the army farther and farther away from Wancheng, Cao Pi's eyes gradually became fleeting.
If destiny is in the Wei Dynasty, I hope God will help the Wei Dynasty again in this battle.
Cao Pi, who had never believed in ghosts and gods in the past, became more and more superstitious after usurping the Han Dynasty and proclaiming himself emperor.
When Zhang Liao's tens of thousands of troops completely disappeared on the horizon, several messengers quickly left Wancheng and headed towards Yizhou.
Tens of thousands of infantry troops cannot move as quickly as cavalry troops, so when Zhang Liao led tens of thousands of Cao Wei's central army to the south, Han spies immediately found out the news.
They then quickly headed south and reported the news to Guan Yu outside Fancheng.
When Guan Yu heard the news, even though he had never been excited about the great victory over Queyue before, he clapped his hands excitedly in the tent.
It's a big deal.
Everything went as he expected. In addition to the defeat of tens of thousands of Wei cavalry, Cao Pi would definitely send the backbone of the Wei army to support Fancheng again.
The foreign troops in Nanyang had been defeated in the previous Battle of Xicheng and had not yet recovered their strength.
As for the state and county soldiers, if the field soldiers can defend the city, it is somewhat unrealistic to rely on them to resist the Han army, which currently has high morale.
Of course, the only backbone force that Cao Pi can currently use is the Central Army of Wei, which Cao Wei has always been proud of.
Although it was known from the intelligence that the number of Cao Wei's Central Army Zhang Liao brought this time was no more than 30,000, which was still far behind the overall number of Cao Wei's Central Army, this already made Guan Yu excited.
But why was Guan Yu excited about Zhang Liao leading his army south instead of feeling troubled?
It was because all Guan Yu's previous actions were to lure Cao Wei's central army to go south.
As long as Cao Wei's central army moves south, no matter who the general is, Guan Yu will not find it difficult.
The moment he learned that Cao Pi was personally going to the south, Guan Yu found out that most of the tens of thousands of troops led by Cao Pi were Cao Wei's middle army.
After knowing this news, Guan Yu had a plan in his mind.
The plan was that he would try his best to capture the tens of thousands of Cao Wei's troops brought by Cao Pi.
As early as the moment Liu Bei captured Yizhou, the entire Liu Bei group was preparing for the Northern Expedition.
Among the generals under Liu Bei, everyone had different ideas about the strategy of the Northern Expedition.
Some people say that we should seize strategic locations as much as possible and gradually encroach on Cao Wei's territory.
Some people proposed that the main direction of the Northern Expedition should be in Jingzhou, and there were various ideas.
But Guan Yu had his own idea, that is, instead of seizing the land, it would be better to kill Cao Wei's effective forces as much as possible.
Because in Guan Yu's view, Cao Wei's area was too vast.
If all the national power is used up to capture one or two cities, even if those one or two cities are strategically important, what is the use?
Take today's Fancheng as an example. After taking Fancheng, Nanyang County still has more than 30 cities, large and small.
The geographical location of Fancheng is very critical.
But the reason why Fancheng could become a bridgehead against the Han army was because Cao Wei used the national power of the entire Nanyang County to build a complete defense system with Fancheng as the bridgehead.
A single Fancheng was not enough to withstand the pace of tens of thousands of Han troops. It was this perfect defense system that prevented tens of thousands of Han troops from directly crossing Fancheng and going deep into Nanyang County.
Taking Fan City can certainly destroy this defense system, but with Cao Wei's national power, they can select another city as the new "Fan City" in a short period of time, and then rebuild a complete defense system.
Even with Cao Wei's national power, they could build a new city out of thin air.
The key to Nanyang lies in Wancheng, and there are many cities in front of Wancheng. Do we need to pull out each of the cities to reach Wancheng?
Such consumption of food, troops, and time is an astronomical figure, and the most important thing is that Cao Wei has many counties like Nanyang.
Under such circumstances, just thinking about attacking the city and occupying strategic locations will not work.
The best way is to use Cao Wei to intimidate the enemy's foreign troops and kill the Chinese army as much as possible.
Once Cao Wei completely loses these two world-shaking weapons, drastic changes will definitely occur in the north over time.
By that time, the probability of victory in the Han Dynasty's Northern Expedition will be greatly increased!
This method will not consume too much national power for one's own side, and can cause maximum damage to the enemy. It is an essential strategy for the weak to defeat the strong.
Guan Yu's strategic conception did not appear out of thin air, but was slowly formed based on his experience during his many years in the army.
Therefore, during the Battle of Xiangfan last year, from a military point of view, Guan Yu should not risk crossing the Han River to attack Fancheng before Xiangyang was captured.
Because of the obstruction of the Han River, reinforcements from the north were unable to rescue Xiangyang, and Guan Yu could seize Xiangyang calmly.
And if he divides his forces to capture Fancheng, then Guan Yu's retreat will involve Xiangyang, which will undoubtedly be risky.
Many people think that Guan Yu is eager to win and wants Cao Ren's head, but thinking that way is undoubtedly too superficial a view of Guan Yu, an excellent commander.
Guan Yu's real purpose at that time was to encircle Fan and recruit reinforcements!
Regarding this strategic concept, Guan Yu also had private discussions with Mi Yang, and Guan Yu's strategy undoubtedly coincided with Mi Yang's inner thoughts.
Guan Yu's strategic thinking can be expressed in a sentence from later generations: if you save the land and lose the people, you will lose both the people and the land; if you save the people and lose the land, you will gain both the people and the land.
The people among them specifically refer to the enemy's vitality.
Moreover, as a time traveler, Mi Yang also knew that not only did he have similar views to Guan Yu, but Zhuge Liang, who had mastered tactics and strategy in history, was also the successor of Guan Yu's strategic ideas.
Historically, when Zhuge Liang started his Northern Expedition, his obvious strategic policy was to capture Longxi.
He mainly focused on occupying territory, so he deliberately sent troops to the Northern Expedition when Cao Wei's troops in Longxi were empty.
But after suffering successive setbacks, Zhuge Liang immediately adjusted his strategy accordingly.
After that, his Northern Expedition was directed towards Cao Wei's heartland in the Yongliang area. His purpose was to actively lure Cao Wei's middle army in Chang'an to fight with him in the field, so as to consume Cao Wei's effective strength to the greatest extent.
Even during the last Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang didn't even go to Longxi. He directly set up his camp at the gate of Chang'an and forced Sima Yi to come out and fight him.
It can be said that if Ji Han wanted to truly defeat Cao Wei, he would not have to go to the city walls one by one, but he would have to follow the strategic ideas of Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang in the later period.
This may not be effective for several years, or even ten years, but after ten years or so, the situation will most likely be reversed.
And precisely because Guan Yu and Mi Yang had private discussions with each other, Mi Yang's actions seemed a bit quiet for a period of time after Guan Yu sent troops.
Because the plan of Guan Yu and Mi Yang was to do everything possible to attract Cao Wei's central army to a decisive battle outside Fancheng.
Compared with Wudang, the terrain outside Fancheng is more conducive to decisive battles between large corps.
That's why Guan Yu besieged Fancheng instead of attacking it, and that's why Mi Yang used the memories of later generations to let Guan Yu recreate the Queyue Formation.
From the beginning, Guan Yu and Mi Yang, the father-in-law and son-in-law, planned to capture Cao Wei's tens of thousands of soldiers.
Now seeing that the situation is developing step by step as he and Mi Yang envisioned, Guan Yu will certainly feel happy.
After realizing that Zhang Liao's army was about to arrive in the near future, Guan Yu immediately sat down to write a letter.
He wrote this letter to Mi Yang, and the content was to request Mi Yang to immediately lead his army south to join him.
Perhaps because he was a little excited, Guan Yu covered his head again while writing the letter.
It was during this period that the headache that had been tormenting Guan Yu returned again.
At this time, in the big tent, besides Guan Yu, there was also a doctor accompanying Guan Yu.
This doctor's name was Fan A, and he was a disciple of Hua Tuo, a famous Chinese doctor.
Among Hua Tuo's disciples, Fan A was good at acupuncture and surgery. It was Fan A who scraped Guan Yu's bones and healed his wounds.
After all, during the Three Kingdoms period, even if Guan Yu dared to ask doctors to scrape his bones, apart from Hua Tuo, the only ones who had the confidence to perform such surgical operations were probably Hua Tuo's disciples.
At that time, Guan Yu visited famous doctors everywhere in order to cure his arrow wound. Fan A was practicing medicine in Xiangfan at that time. After hearing about Guan Yu's visit, he took the initiative to come to Guan Yu's house to treat him.
Later, Guan Yu's performance of scraping bones with ease not only impressed all his subordinates, but also impressed Fan A with admiration. From then on, Fan A was willing to stay with Guan Yu as his personal medical officer.
When Fan A saw Guan Yu start to have a headache again, he immediately stood up and came behind Guan Yu, took out the silver needle on his body and inserted it into the acupuncture point on Guan Yu's head.
Under Fan A's acupuncture, Guan Yu's headache symptoms gradually eased.
After seeing that Guan Yu no longer had a headache, Fan A stopped acupuncture and saw that Guan Yu resumed writing letters after his headache was slightly relieved. He couldn't help but advise:
"The general has a serious illness. He should rest and recuperate instead of wasting his mind."
Fan A has advised Guan Yu many times with similar words.
But Guan Yu's reaction today was as usual and he didn't care.
Seeing Guan Yu's reaction, Fan A could only sigh helplessly.
Guan Yu quickly finished writing the letter to Mi Yang, and then immediately summoned a personal guard and asked him to deliver the letter to Mi Yang as soon as possible.
After the guard left, Guan Yu leaned on the soft table beside him and closed his eyes to rest.
If he didn't know anything about his physical condition before, but due to the increasingly frequent headaches recently, he had already found Fan A to understand everything.
It was precisely because of his understanding that he asked Fan A to stay by his side during this period.
After Fan A's diagnosis, he concluded that the reason why he had frequent headaches recently was because he did not recover well from the arrow injury on his forehead, which left the root of the disease.
But the scene then was just like it is now.
Fancheng's defenses were strong and the enemy was at bay. Two generals, Pang De and tens of thousands of Wei troops, were watching eagerly.
However, one's own army can only rely on one person to fight against the enemy despite being at a disadvantage in terms of strength.
Under such circumstances, what time and thought does he have to rest?
After Fan A understood the root cause of Guan Yu's illness, he gave Guan Yu a suggestion: "Brain diseases are difficult to cure. The general did not take much rest before, and now it has become a stubborn disease.
If a general can give up his military duties, relax his mind and take care of himself, his life may be extended."
After Fan A said this, he repeatedly told Guan Yu not to waste his energy, otherwise his illness would be aggravated.
But after listening to Fan A's words, Guan Yu couldn't help laughing.
Perhaps Fan A was thinking about himself entirely from the perspective of a doctor, but how could he be someone who was greedy for life and afraid of death?
Just as Fan A had warned him in advance when he was scraping his bones to heal his wounds, at that time, for the sake of military and national affairs, I still decisively chose to let Fan A use the knife.
Similarly, Guan Yu is also making this choice now.
Guan Yu knew that if Fan A'du could not cure his brain disease in today's world, then even if he listened to Fan A's words and rested for a long time, I am afraid that what would be left in the world would no longer be a general Guan who was able to fight with swords and horses, but
A great hero of the Han Dynasty lingering on his sick bed.
But how could Guan Yu want to be like the latter?
Now when Guan Yu closed his eyes, all he thought about was how he would eat those tens of thousands of Cao Wei's troops in the future, and he was not worried about his own life at all.
The terrain outside Fancheng kept reappearing in Guan Yu's mind, and all possibilities for the future army battle were deduced based on Guan Yu's imagination.
After a long period of contemplation, Guan Yu, who felt a little tired, opened his eyes and looked at the map on the desk in front of him.
He stretched out his calloused hand and touched the location of Fancheng on the map.
Last year, because of the safety of Jingzhou, he abandoned Fancheng and had no choice but to return to the south bank.
But this year, he will never retreat again!
Updates will be relatively late these two days.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!