Chapter 334 You come first, tit for tat
Before Cao Pi left Wancheng, in order to allow Sima Yi to have enough troops to defend Wancheng, he left 20,000 troops with Sima Yi.
The 20,000 Wei troops were not the central army of Cao Wei, but mostly foreign troops from Yan and Hezhou.
Although it is not Cao Wei's central army, the combat effectiveness of Cao Wei's foreign troops is also very good.
Coupled with the tens of thousands of Guanzhong cavalry led by Zhang He, such a troop configuration is not difficult for Nanyang County, whose guard territory has shrunk greatly.
Although the two armies exchanged prisoners this time, although it was the intention of the two monarchs, the hostile situation between the two sides would not change because of this exchange.
Because Sima Yi was wary of today's exchange.
Just as Mi Yang thought, it was Sima Yi who was afraid of him now.
In order to prevent Mi Yang from having any bad thoughts when the two armies exchanged prisoners of war today, Sima Yi not only brought five thousand infantry troops from Wancheng, but also Zhang He's tens of thousands of Guanzhong cavalry with him.
Therefore, there are currently a total of 50,000 Wei troops led by Sima Yi outside Jiyang City.
You must know that Jiyang County is still under the control of the Wei army. In his own territory, Sima Yi also mobilized so many troops, which shows how defensive he is against Mi Yang.
The cavalry of the Wanwu Army was in front and the infantry was behind. They formed long formations outside Jiyang City and watched as the Han warships gradually appeared in front of them.
When they saw the battle flags with the word "mi" in the red flags, the two generals Sima Yi and Zhang He, who were riding in front of the army formation, were all very energetic in their hearts.
Either they are afraid of him or they value him, Mi Yang deserves to be treated like this.
At the forefront of the many Han warships, a tower ship several feet high was slowly approaching the shore.
Standing on this building ship was Mi Yang, the Han general of the left.
After the building gradually came to a stop, Mi Yang also took advantage of his commanding position to see clearly the tens of thousands of Wei troops waiting in formation not far away.
This time, Mi Yang brought only 7,000 Han troops to Jiyang, which was far smaller than the Wei army.
It's not that Mi Yang is too powerful, it's just that he currently doesn't have many troops in his hands. In addition, Yiyang County has just surrendered, so there are places to use troops everywhere.
Moreover, Mi Yang really didn't expect that Sima Yi would mobilize so many Wei troops just to hand over prisoners.
How worried do you have to be about him?
However, although the Han army was smaller in number than the Wei army, Mi Yang had no worries in his heart.
As long as the Han army does not easily go ashore, the Han army that controls the Lishui River will be in an invincible situation.
Sima Yi, who was riding in front of the army formation, saw that the boat where Mi Yang was on had stopped, so he immediately sent an envoy to have a final meeting with Mi Yang.
After sending the envoys, Sima Yi also ordered people to escort the hundreds of Han prisoners behind the formation to the front of the formation one after another.
Among the hundreds of Han prisoners, those at the front were two young women.
These two young women were Liu Bei's two daughters who were captured by the Wei army during the rebellion.
When Sima Yi's envoy came to the shore and boarded the high-rise boat under the guidance of a hanging basket, hundreds of prisoners of the Han army were also escorted by the Wei army to the front of the two armies' formations.
The person responsible for escorting hundreds of Han prisoners to the front of the battle was none other than the Yecheng County soldiers where Shi Bao was located.
With an excited look on his face, Shi Bao led the Han prisoners to the front and rear of the formation. With no obstruction in front of him, he immediately cast his expectant eyes on the building ship where Mi Yang was.
After Shi Bao arrived in Wancheng, he realized why the Wei army had to escort a group of prisoners southward all the way.
After knowing this, Shi Bao also knew that the Han general in charge of the handover was Mi Yang.
So he was full of expectations for today.
However, due to the distance problem and the height of the building, Shi Bao could not see the young general wearing Mingguang armor.
But Shi Bao's eyes were still full of excitement.
He was standing behind the formation, but he clearly saw that after Mi Yang's arrival, there was a faint commotion in the formation of the five thousand Wei troops.
This scene made Shi Bao's desire to defect to Mi Yang become even stronger.
In the past, Mi Yang only lived in legends, and because Cao Wei officials deliberately suppressed the news, Shi Bao could not deeply feel Mi Yang's reputation in the world.
But the scene he saw today made him truly feel for the first time how prestigious Mi Yang was in Jingzhou.
Only such a famous general is worthy of being his master.
Similar to Shi Bao, after seeing the high-flying battle flag with the word "Mi", the faces of the hundreds of Han army prisoners showed expressions of excitement.
As time went by, it was no longer a secret that the two armies exchanged prisoners of war.
These hundreds of Han prisoners also knew that they were about to be released back to the south.
But what they didn't expect was that the person coming to greet them today would be Mi Yang.
You must know that among these hundreds of prisoners, the proportion of Mi clan members is not low.
Even if they were not members of the Mi clan, other captives who were also members of General Yuan Cong's clan treated Mi Yang as their relatives in the past.
Years of prison life had already caused them to lose hope in their hearts.
With this mentality, today they saw their relatives coming to personally welcome them home. The excitement of surviving a desperate situation was completely uncontrollable.
Because of the excitement in their hearts, the captive team of more than a hundred people suddenly began to make a commotion.
After the commotion broke out, since the formal handover of prisoners between the two armies had not yet begun, the Wei troops beside hundreds of prisoners began to suppress the commotion with the scabbards in their hands.
In the past years, these Wei troops have treated them like this.
What they are doing now is just out of instinct.
But when Sima Yi saw this, his expression immediately changed, and he immediately ordered people to stop the Wei troops.
Sima Yi was worried that Mi Yang would see this scene.
Although Sima Yi stopped it very quickly, how could Mi Yang, who had been watching the scene here, not see this scene?
After seeing this, Mi Yang's face was already filled with anger.
Even between his eyes, the chill was slowly building up.
The plight of hundreds of tribesmen who were unkempt and looked like beggars made Mi Yang feel dissatisfied.
Now he saw with his own eyes that his own people were beaten by the Wei army. How could he not feel angry?
At this time, the envoy sent by Sima Yi happened to arrive in front of Mi Yang.
When Sima Yi's envoy arrived at Mi Yang, he immediately asked Mi Yang for instructions on how to hand over the prisoners between the two armies.
Mi Yang originally thought that it would be the most reasonable approach for both armies to release the prisoners at the same time.
But now Mi Yang has changed his mind.
Mi Yang sneered at Sima Yi's envoy:
"The sincerity of your army is unclear, so you actually sent cavalry to suppress the formation.
If after our army releases the prisoners, your cavalry army attacks and kills my relatives and friends from behind, won’t I regret it for the rest of my life?”
"To prove the sincerity of your army, your army should first release my relatives and friends. After all my relatives and friends are accepted by our army, I will release the people your army wants."
Hearing what Mi Yang said, Sima Yi's envoy had a look of surprise on his face.
That’s not what everyone talked about at the beginning.
What if they release the hundreds of prisoners first, but Mi Yang does not release Xiahou Shang and others?
The first reaction of Sima Yi's envoy was to refuse.
After thinking for a while, he still couldn't think of a reason to refuse.
Because what Mi Yang said makes sense.
The Han army is on the water, while the Wei army is on land, and there are also cavalry troops.
If the Han army and the Wei army released the prisoners at the same time, once the Wei army's prisoners stepped out of the Han army's bow and arrow range.
At that time, if the Wei cavalry launched an attack on the Han prisoners from behind, the Han army on the water would indeed not be able to react in time.
To be honest, Mi Yang is really worried about this.
As for whether Mi Yang was overly concerned, that's really not the case.
The Wei army knew how to kill even unarmed civilians, so how could they not kill prisoners?
Seeing a look of embarrassment on Sima Yi's envoy's face, Mi Yang continued to press forward step by step.
"In exchange of prisoners between the two armies, the first priority is integrity. If your army suddenly suppresses the formation with cavalry, it is considered a breach of trust. Could it be that Sima Zhongda has an ulterior motive?"
Hearing Mi Yang's question, Sima Yi's envoy was frightened and turned pale. He defended Sima Yi again and again.
He was well aware of the importance of this prisoner exchange to the Wei army, so he was afraid that Mi Yang would misunderstand and delay the prisoner exchange.
And precisely because of the importance of this prisoner exchange, he also knew that Sima Yi would not dare to cheat on this matter.
The reason why Sima Yi called in the cavalry was because he was worried that the Han army would suddenly attack.
However, this reason was too demoralizing for our side, so when the envoy defended Sima Yi, he could never find any legitimate reason.
This made him even more panicked.
Seeing Sima Yi's envoy panicked, Mi Yang gave him an ultimatum:
"The integrity of our army is known to the world, so you don't have to worry about me breaking my promise.
On the other hand, the sincerity of your army is unclear. If you continue to push back, I will withdraw my army and report to the emperor.
When the time comes, Sima Yi will bear all the consequences."
When Mi Yang finished speaking, he immediately ordered people to drive Sima Yi's envoy off the boat.
After Sima Yi's envoy was driven off the ship, he quickly returned to Sima Yi with deep worries because of Mi Yang's ultimatum, and told Sima Yi exactly what Mi Yang meant.
Zhang He was beside Sima Yi.
After Zhang He heard what Mi Yang meant, he immediately said angrily: "Lu'er is arrogant!"
But after Sima Yi heard Zhang He's angry words, he advised Zhang He to calm down.
Mi Yang is arrogant, but what Mi Yang said makes sense.
Put yourself in Mi Yang's shoes, if he were Mi Yang, he might not do what Mi Yang did.
Besides, even if Mi Yang is arrogant, what can they do against him now?
Sima Yi remembered Cao Pi's edict to him and told him to do this well.
Cao Pi took this matter seriously, and Sima Yi could feel it deeply from the contents of the edict.
Moreover, this matter was the first thing he did for Cao Pi after becoming the governor of one side.
If this matter goes wrong, his impression in Cao Pi's mind will definitely be greatly reduced.
Therefore, both publicly and privately, Sima Yi must successfully complete the prisoner exchange between the two armies today.
The most important thing is that there is something Mi Yang said that Sima Yi deeply agrees with.
That is the faith of the Han army, and it is known to all the world.
Mi Yang came from a famous family in Guanzhong and was Liu Bei's nephew. Under the strong concept of trustworthiness in the world, Mi Yang would not go back on his word.
Under these considerations, Sima Yi decided to agree to Mi Yang's request.
Sima Yi was also a resolute character. After planning to agree to Mi Yang's request, he immediately ordered the Wei army to untie the ropes on the hundreds of Han prisoners.
After the ropes on the hundreds of Han army prisoners were untied, the hundreds of Han army prisoners finally began to run in the direction of Lishui under the urging of the Wei army beside them.
Perhaps at first the hundreds of Han prisoners were afraid of the Wei army behind them and did not dare to run too fast.
But as they ran a certain distance and realized that Wei Jun really intended to release them, their running speed suddenly accelerated.
Mi Yang, who was standing high on the boat, saw hundreds of Han prisoners running towards him, and a smile appeared on his face.
He immediately let the warships below dock and released planks one after another to welcome hundreds of Han prisoners who were about to arrive ashore to board the ships.
Soon after, hundreds of Han prisoners finally arrived at the shore. After they arrived at the shore, the Han army did not easily pick them up at once.
After checking that there were no weapons hidden on their bodies, the Han army picked them up one by one on the warship.
And according to Mi Yang's previous order, the hundreds of Han prisoners were also disrupted and dispersed to various warships.
In this way, even if there were spies from the Wei army among the hundreds of returned Han prisoners, at least under this arrangement, they would not be able to cause trouble.
As for their identities, they will be re-verified one by one by dedicated personnel in the future.
Although Mi Yang is eager to accept people, he still understands that it is necessary to be on guard against others.
Among all the returned prisoners of war, Mi Yang only took Liu Bei's two daughters aboard his ship.
When Liu Bei's daughters were captured, they were only about eight or nine years old, but now they are adult women in their twenties when they return.
When Liu Bei's two daughters were picked up on the boat, they looked at Mi Yang who was wearing fine armor and burst into tears.
"Cousin."
"Why did you come here!"
They are both the daughters of Liu Bei and the descendants of the Mi family.
More than ten years of displacement, more than ten years of darkness, and more than ten years of fear have long accumulated too much grievances in their hearts.
Because in the past they were in the enemy camp and did not even dare to cry.
Now that they have escaped, the moment they see their loved ones, they can finally cry without any scruples.
Seeing her two cousins in ragged clothes crying in front of her, Mi Yang felt very uncomfortable when she thought that they were supposed to be noble princesses, but now they were in this situation.
Although Mi Yang still has some doubts in her heart because her identity has not been fully confirmed.
But this does not prevent Mi Yang from taking a good breath for them and the hundreds of relatives and friends who have returned.
At this time, Sima Yi on the shore saw that the Han army had not released Xiahou Shang and others after taking over a hundred prisoners of war, so he ordered people to wave flags to urge Mi Yang.
After learning of Sima Yi's urging, Mi Yang first wiped the tears from the faces of his two cousins with his hands, then turned around and ordered:
"Bring Xia Houshang and others up."
"Take off your shirt and bring me here!"
Compared with the miserable situation of Mi Yang's relatives and friends, Xia Houshang and others lived a much more comfortable life in the past.
Since Wei Jun left my relatives and friends in rags, then I will leave them with nothing to wear!
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!