A few days after Xiahou Ba returned to Hefei, news like a bolt from the blue reached Cao Xiu's hands.
Thousands of elite soldiers brought by Wenpin from Jiangxia were ambushed by the Wu army led by Han Dang outside Lu'an City.
Wenpin was outnumbered and was defeated by the Wu army. He did not know whether he would live or die.
When Cao Xiu heard the news, he felt that the sky in Hefei suddenly became dim.
Although Cao Xiu knew that Cao Rui must be mobilizing troops and horses from other states and counties to come to the rescue, the closest states and counties to Hefei were Yuzhou and Xuzhou.
The Wei army in Yuzhou had elites, but most of the elites in Yuzhou had been transferred to the front line of Wancheng to resist Zhang Fei's Han army under the dispatch of Cao Rui.
Xuzhou is not located on the border of Cao Wei, so Cao Wei has never deployed heavy troops in Xuzhou before.
Therefore, except for Wenpin's Wei army, it would be difficult for Hefei to get reinforcements from other places in a short period of time.
Perhaps Wenpin's supporting troops could successfully reach the city of Hefei, or they might not be able to enter the city due to the obstruction of Wu's army.
Even if Wenpin's reinforcements were able to enter the city, there was no 100% guarantee that Hefei would be able to survive the onslaught of tens of thousands of Wu troops.
But no matter what, the Wei army led by Wenpin is the only hope for Hefei City at the moment.
But now Hefei City's only hope was extinguished by Lu Xun himself outside Lu'an City.
In this situation, Cao Xiu felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
It is good that Hefei is a fortified city, but a fortified city also needs elite soldiers to protect it. Otherwise, no matter how strong the city defense is, what is the use?
As time went by, many generals and colonels in Hefei City also heard the news.
When many Wei army generals learned of this terrifying news, they quickly came together to see Cao Xiu.
Many generals of the Wei army were in a panic. At this moment, Cao Xiu needed to make a decision on where to go.
Among the many generals of the Wei army, there was naturally Xiahou Ba.
Xiahou Ba may be considered the most unbelievable among the many generals of the Wei army.
Obviously he had just met Wenpin a few days ago, but today he received news that Wenpin's life and death were unknown. Thinking of this, Xiahou Ba couldn't help but shudder.
If he had taken a few steps late that day, wouldn't he have ended up with the same fate as Wenpin?
Facing the visits of many generals and commanders, Cao Xiu had already expected it.
But when the Wei army generals saw Cao Xiu, they who were still panic suddenly became quiet.
The next thing they can do is follow Cao Xiu's orders.
Many generals of the Wei army were silent, which plunged the meeting hall in the Yangzhou Mufu into an eerie silence.
After this uneasy silence lasted for a long time, it was finally broken by a weak voice.
"Hefei can't hold on any longer."
This judgment came from Cao Xiu. When Cao Xiu said this judgment, many Wei army generals in the hall had different expressions on their faces.
Either indignant, unwilling, or even happy.
But there are still ministers in Cao Wei who dare to speak out.
For example, a general named Hu Zun.
Hu Zun, who was now just a partial general, stood up and angrily said to Cao Xiu: "The rats from Jiangdong are all those who take advantage of others' danger.
If Mi Yang hadn't caused trouble in Guanzhong, why would our army have to retreat today?"
Hu Zun revealed the fundamental reason why Cao Xiu had no choice but to abandon Hefei.
The fundamental reason is that the Han army's Northern Expedition left Huainan empty of troops.
Otherwise, why would Cao Rui send Wenpin's reinforcements to Hefei?
After listening to Hu Zun's words, Cao Xiu did not condemn him for his hindsight, because Cao Xiu knew that Hu Zun was indirectly encouraging the morale of the army.
Sure enough, as soon as Hu Zun finished speaking, many Wei generals in the assembly hall became excited.
Waves of shouts and curses for the Jiangdong rats resounded in the assembly hall.
And as the argument of "Jiangdong took advantage of others' danger" became the mainstream, the fearful hearts of the Wei generals in the hall were greatly comforted.
Jiangdong only took advantage of the danger to capture Hefei, and did not rely on real swords and guns. So the current retreat is for a better counterattack in the future, and the situation is not that bad.
It must be said that although times are different, Ah Q’s spiritual victory method exists in every era.
Cao Xiu glanced at Hu Zun with admiration.
This partial general named Hu Zun reacted very quickly.
With the abandonment of Hefei a foregone conclusion, the most important thing for the Wei army at the moment is to stabilize the morale of the army.
Only with a stable military morale can it be possible to defend Shouchun, an important town behind Hefei.
Seeing that the morale of the generals was gradually stabilizing, Cao Xiu quickly ordered to the generals:
"Send the order, empty the treasury, and burn Hefei!"
After hearing Cao Xiu's order, all the generals looked at Cao Xiu with surprised eyes.
Hefei has been an important town for the Wei army in Huainan since Liu Fu became the governor of Yangzhou more than ten years ago.
Over ten years of accumulation has made Hefei's treasury very rich.
And since we plan to evacuate from Hefei, emptying Hefei's treasury and leaving no trace of strategic materials for the enemy is also a way to attack the enemy.
The generals understood Cao Xiu's order.
But the burning of Hefei was a bit too harsh.
Hefei is the seat of Huainan County, and most of the population and wealth of Huainan County are distributed around Hefei.
According to last year's statistics, there were tens of thousands of people living in Hefei City alone, not to mention the people living in the surrounding villages of Hefei.
If we really want to count the number of people living in the villages, then the economic circle centered on Hefei basically radiates the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.
If Cao Xiu had burned down the city of Hefei, it would have destroyed not only the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people, but the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people!
However, even though there was some resentment in his heart, no one dissuaded Cao Xiu from his decision.
Because the decision to burn Hefei was harmful to the people, but it was beneficial to the Wei army.
As long as it is beneficial to the Wei army, what can't the Wei army do?
Soon a herald ran out of the meeting hall and spread Cao Xiu's general order throughout the army.
It is foreseeable that soon, both inside and outside Hefei will truly become a purgatory!
But doesn’t Wei Jun like to do this kind of thing?
If this were not the case, Mi Yang would not have made the oath to pledge the Han River.
...
On a tall ship in Chaohu, Lu Xun received the good news from Han Dang.
Seeing that Han Dang lived up to his trust and successfully annihilated the Wei army under Wenpin's command that was rescuing Hefei, Lu Xun had a smile on his face.
Yu Fan on the side also showed joy after reading the battle report sent by Han Dang.
Yes, it’s Jiangdong’s national treasure Yu Fan again.
As an important minister who urged Sun Quan to attack Hefei, after Lu Xun led his army northward, Yu Fan had been following Lu Xun and giving him advice.
Lu Xun and Yu Fan both came from high-ranking families in Jiangdong, so Lu Xun was also willing to take Yu Fan with him as his advisor.
While Yu Fan's face showed joy, he said to Lu Xun:
"After this battle, the general's chances of taking Hefei will be greatly increased.
And the generals' doubts will be greatly reduced.
In the past, I heard that the general had amazing strategies, and today the general knew that the enemy had the upper hand, which proves this."
It is normal for nobles to compliment each other.
Moreover, what Yu Fan said was not entirely to flatter Lu Xun.
As a counselor who has been following Lu Xun, Yu Fan witnessed with his own eyes during this period how Lu Xun created the right time, place and people for his army step by step.
Such Lu Xun deserves his high praise.
In response to Yu Fan's compliments, Lu Xun just smiled slightly and did not show any happiness.
It’s not that Lu Xun was mediocre by nature, but that Lu Xun had higher pursuits in his heart.
Lu Xun put away Han Dang's battle report, and then said calmly: "Hefei has not been captured yet, and the Supreme is still waiting for my good news in Jianye.
When I win Hefei, it will not be too late for Zhongxiang to praise me again."
After saying the above, Lu Xun continued:
"Besides, even if Hefei is captured by our army, Zhong Xiang should also know that without Mi Yang, our army will not be able to achieve this easily."
Lu Xun's words made Yu Fan stop smiling.
The direct reason why the Wu army is now able to take the initiative in the war in Huainan is Lu Xun's momentum-building move, but the fundamental reason is Lu Xun's previous move to take advantage of the momentum.
Without the great victory in Liangzhou, the Wu army would not have advanced so smoothly in Huainan.
After speaking to Yu Fan, Lu Xun immediately ordered the entire army to stop hesitating and speed up to Hefei City.
With the help of the wide river, within a few days, tens of thousands of Wu troops under the command of Lu Xun arrived at the Shishui River dozens of miles away from Hefei City.
But just when Lu Xun ordered his army to dock at the port and disembark as soon as possible, Xu Sheng, the vanguard of the Wu army, sent back a shocking news to Lu Xun.
Not long ago, Cao Xiu led the Wei army to withdraw from Hefei City. While the Wei army was withdrawing from Hefei, Cao Xiu also set a fire and destroyed the city of Hefei.
According to the information sent back by Xu Sheng, the fire burned for a whole day and night before gradually stopping.
After learning the news, Lu Xun couldn't help but frown.
Of course he knew that this was Cao Xiu's plan to draw out the firepower.
But I know that the ruthless plan to draw out the firepower will still bring great trouble to the tens of thousands of Wu troops.
An important reason why Hefei has always been the city that Sun Quan wanted to conquer is:
Hefei City is located at the intersection of Feishui and Shishui. It is the only place where the Wu army's navy must pass from Shishui to Huaihe River.
Without capturing Hefei, Wu Jun's naval forces would never be able to enter the Huai River, let alone sweep across the entire Huaisi land.
In addition to this reason, Hefei has become the economic center of Huainan County under the development of the former Yangzhou governor.
Once the Wu army can capture Hefei, the Wu army can use Hefei as a strategic base and accumulate heavy troops here as a bridgehead for further northern expeditions in the future.
In a strategic sense, these two reasons are indistinguishable.
However, Cao Xiu's act of burning Hefei was undoubtedly a direct and fundamental failure of Wu Jun's idea of turning Hefei into a base for the Northern Expedition.
Even after the fire destroyed Hefei, Huainan County suddenly had tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of homeless people.
For such a large number of people, some of them will continue to follow the Wei army and move north in order to survive, but most of them will become refugees in Huainan County.
One or two refugees are not scary, but when tens of thousands of refugees gather together, the chemical reaction that occurs is terrifying.
Tens of thousands of refugees will not only cause local public security disorder but also destroy economic order.
What's more important is that once the Wu army cannot pacify most of the refugees in time, the many refugees are likely to turn into a rebel army, which will seriously affect the Wu army's next Northern Expedition.
Cao Xiu's purpose of burning Hefei was to delay the Wu army's next attack on Shouchun at all costs, which would give the Wei army enough time to build a defense line in Shouchun and seek help from all directions.
Cao Xiu's purpose is not difficult to guess, but Wu Jun had to accept the serious consequences of burning Hefei.
Because Wu Jun could not give up the city of Hefei that was now within easy reach.
As for whether Lu Xun had a way to resolve Cao Xiu's poisonous plan, he did, but it just depends on whether Sun Quan will agree to it.
Thinking of this, Lu Xun did not rush to lead his army into Hefei City, which was full of ruins. He first came to the case and wrote:
"Today we abandon the Cao family, and we will suffer many losses. In the midst of a fierce battle between tigers and tigers, the three parties will collapse.
I think that the Supreme Being should work hard to cleanse the Huai and Si lands, observe the number of the weak and weak among the people, and make the strong hold the halberd, and the weak will be transported.
Mi Yang of Liangzhou marched to Longyou, Zhang Fei of Jingzhou arrived at Wancheng, west of present-day Chang'an, Qi attacked Mi Yang, and the troops of Xu and Luo defended Wancheng.
The elite enemy country was almost stopped by the Han army.
Now Hefei has fallen, and Shouchun is in sight. If our army strengthens its strength and marches forward, the people will surely respond.
The Supreme Being has set out to fight, and he knows the military strategy very well. This is a rare opportunity.
However, Cao Xiu destroyed Hefei and caused the loss of living people. If it is not cured, the good opportunity will be gone.
Proper generalship depends on distance and strategy. If Hefei is delayed, it will be green and Xu will be difficult to map.
I secretly think about it, the Supreme Being should be a horse and a fat chariot, marching through the cities with mausoleums, gathering the national strength, taking advantage of the victory to drive north, so as to determine China."
After writing the memorial, Lu Xun dried the ink on the paper and sealed the memorial and gave it to Yu Fan.
While handing the memorial to Yu Fan, Lu Xun said to Yu Fan earnestly:
"If I want to defeat Cao Xiu's scheme of draining the cauldron, I must devote all the power of the country to help me.
It's just that I already have most of the elites in the country, so my request may attract slander from greedy ministers.
At that time, I need Zhongxiang to speak kindly for me in front of the Supreme Being, and I must make sure that the Supreme Being does not doubt me!"
After listening to Lu Xun's instructions, Yu Fan nodded cautiously.
After Yu Fan put away the memorial, Lu Xun warned again worriedly:
"Zhong Xiang is a wise man and should know that now is the best time for our army to conquer China.
The great achievements of Jiangdong are now tied to Zhongxiang!"
Facing Lu Xun's emphatic words again, Yu Fan bowed to Lu Xun with a straight face, then immediately stood up and left Lu Xun's presence.
Looking at Yu Fan's leaving figure, Lu Xun's eyes were full of expectation.
He did not expect to always be able to control the military power in Jiangdong. With Sun Quan's character, this was impossible.
Lu Xun only hoped that at this critical juncture, Sun Quan could trust him unreservedly.
No matter what, Jiangdong must completely occupy the entire Huaisi land before the Han army captures Guanzhong.
Only in this way can Jiangdong truly have the capital to dominate the world.
The Wei generals lost their cauldron, and the Han and Wu forces expelled them.
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This chapter has been completed!