On Chang'an City, Xiahou Mao and Zhong Yao looked to the southwest.
It's the sunset, the sky is still dark, and the setting sun hangs on the horizon, illuminating the clouds in the sky into gorgeous burning clouds.
On the endless plain, green and yellow grassland meet each other, and countless war horses march across the south bank of the Wei River, marching to Chang'an.
The plain is vast and vast. Although Xiahou Mao lacks combat experience, he has at least been in Chang'an for as long as he has lived. He still knows some basic common sense in military camps. He can roughly estimate the number of enemies at a glance.
He said to Zhong Yao: "Lieutenant, the enemy seems to have only more than 10,000 troops, and there are no reinforcements in the rear. They have come from a long way, and they must be exhausted. If we go out of the city at this time for a surprise attack, won't we be able to defeat them?"
But Zhong Yao shook his head: "General, don't be impulsive. Shen Chen is not an easy person to deal with. This man dared to fight against the late emperor with his own soldiers when he was more than ten years old, and he was already famous all over the world when he was more than twenty years old. It is very possible for him to come here this time. To show the enemy's weakness and arrange a large ambush in the rear, we should still be on the safe side."
Xia Houmao raised his hands to build a pergola and looked into the distance. The height of the city wall of Chang'an City was eight meters, excluding the moat, which was the height of the horizon. Standing high, he could see far, and to the west was the endless plain, which could be said to be unobstructed.
I saw more than 10,000 cavalrymen alone on the vast grassland, densely packed all over the wilderness, arranged in a horizontal line along the Jishui River, stretching for several miles, with several cavalry standing on the hillside overlooking Chang'an.
Although the sight of more than 10,000 cavalrymen drinking water from their horses was spectacular, and the terrifying momentum seemed to crush everything into powder, it didn't look like there was an ambush behind them.
Xia Houmao wondered: "But there is nothing behind them for more than ten miles. Even if they use cavalry to ambush, they can't rush to rescue so quickly."
This is the most basic military common sense.
But Zhong Yao still said firmly: "The general only saw the west city, but forgot about the north and south cities. What if the enemy just attracts the general's attention and lures the general to mobilize the main force out of the city, and the north city is suddenly attacked?"
"Yes, General."
Dai Ling, a school captain next to him, said: "What's more, even if we chase them out, they have many cavalry, and we have to cross the river to catch up. We can't catch up with them at all. If our main force is exhausted, they will be attacked from other places."
Xia Houmao suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, looked around and said: "What Shen Chen brought is treacherous, and he almost fell into the trap."
Another general, Fei Yao, said: "General, after all, the Taiwei has been sitting in Guanzhong for more than 20 years and knows Chang'an well. Your Majesty sent the Taiwei here in the hope that the general can listen to the Taiwei's advice more."
"Um."
Xia Houmao was not a person with a strong desire for power, so he nodded to Zhong Yao and said, "It's good that the Taiwei helped me, otherwise I would have sent troops rashly. From now on, the military affairs in this city will be mostly controlled by the Taiwei." , everything depends on Lieutenant Lao."
"It's all just to share the worries of Your Majesty and the General."
Zhong Yao returned the favor.
Logically speaking, Zhong Yao is a Taiwei, with a rank of first rank. He is ranked above the general and second only to the Grand Sima. He would not be so respectful to a third rank Anxi general like Xiahou Mao.
However, during the Cao and Wei Dynasties, the three princes basically had empty positions and had no real power. However, Xiahou Mao was not only the general of Anxi, but also held the Jie and Jie Jie Yue, and supervised the affairs of Guanzhong, Yong, and Liangzhou together with Cao Zhen, the general of Zhenxi. He was a general with real power, and in terms of military power He is the tallest in the city of Chang'an.
So when Zhong Yao was sent here this time, it was actually Cao Pi who found a senior adviser to Xiahou Mao. Cao Pi had also sent an edict to Xiahou Mao before, asking him to listen to Zhong Yao's opinions, so this time he was able to follow the trend and hand over the highest military power.
In Zhong Yao's hands, he was nominally the supreme commander, but the command was directed by Zhong Yao.
And this also has an advantage, that is, Zhong Yao's power comes from Xiahou Mao's devolution. Cao Pi does not trust foreign surnames, but more trusts Xiahou Mao, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, Xiahou Shang and other second-generation clan disciples, so even if Zhong Yao has any changes, he will
Can quickly take back power.
This is a kind of check and balance that Cao Wei uses to send high-ranking ministers abroad. For example, during Sima Yi's period, he was suppressed by Cao Zhen and did not dare to think anything wrong, until he killed the second generation of the Cao family and the Xiahou family, and brought down the third generation of the clan.
Only then did he completely take control of the military power, and then clear the way for the Sima family to seize the country.
Therefore, it can be said that it is not that Cao Pi has insufficient control over power, but that the outstanding descendants of the Cao family and Xiahou family are too short-lived. As long as there is one in the second generation who can be as stubborn as Sima Yi, there will probably be nothing wrong with the Sima family.
Zhong Yao successfully took over the military power of Chang'an City. After thanking Xiahou Mao, he raised his head and looked to the west.
He actually knew that Shen Chen probably only had more than 10,000 cavalrymen coming to take a look.
Because they had already sent someone to report to Chang'an before the fall of Huaili, this means that they only have 10,000 cavalry in the rear, and the main infantry cannot fly. It is impossible that they were in Huaili two hours ago and will appear in Chang'an two hours later.
Under the city.
But Zhong Yao could not leave the city.
Not afraid.
But Cao Pi gave him only one order - to defend Chang'an!
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In early December, Shen Chen of Guanzhong was the first to launch an attack.
His troops came out from Chencang Road and Baoxie Road. The cavalry traveled three hundred miles a day, captured several cities, and went straight to the city of Chang'an.
Behind him, Huang Zhong's infantry followed his footsteps and took advantage of the situation to capture Yi County and Wugong, and then surrounded Huaili.
The 30,000 Xiliang troops led by Pang De and Zhao Yun, including about 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry, went south along the Lishui River from Longguan Road to Yongxian County, then passed through Meiyang, Maoling, and Pingling, and arrived at the north bank of Weiqiao Bridge.
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Cao Wei's layout in Guanzhong was relatively clear. A small number of soldiers were sent to the peripheral places such as Xixian, Wugong, Meiyang, etc. to serve as peripheral fortresses to warn and block the enemy.
The main force is huddled in Chang'an City, while there are some backup teams in Lantian, Baling, Zheng County and the rear of Hedong.
The city of Chang'an is large, which has big disadvantages, but it also has advantages.
That is, in August of this year, after Cao Pi was convinced that Liu Bei was planning the Northern Expedition, he allocated a large amount of grain and grass to be sent to Guanzhong. Now the grain and grass in the city are piled up like mountains, enough to feed the 50,000 troops in the city for a year and a half.
At present, Cao Wei has 100,000 people in Guanzhong, half of whom are in Chang'an alone.
At the earliest, Xiahou Mao had only 40,000 troops, and more than 10,000 of them were stationed in various counties. Later, Cao Pi asked Zhong Yao, Xu Huang, and Zhu Ling to add 30,000 troops. In addition to Zhong Yao assisting Xiahou Mao in Chang'an, Xu Huang and Zhu Ling
Each led his men and horses to surround Chang'an's rear to prevent the food routes and reinforcements from being cut off.
In addition to Cao Zhen, the general of Zhenxi who is guarding Liu Bei's troops in Wuguan in Lantian Valley, Cao Wei has two clans stationed in Guanzhong, with a total force of about 100,000. Moreover, the overall situation is mainly defensive, and it is obvious that the idea of defensive counterattack is
.
A few days later, Shen Chen's main force arrived outside Chang'an City one after another. Zhao Yun and Pang De crossed the Wei Bridge and stationed themselves in the north of Chang'an City, while Shen Chen and Huang Zhong were in the west and south of Chang'an City, besieging Chang'an.
Each of their marches lasted for 20 to 30 miles. The troops of 20,000 people plus civilians, auxiliary soldiers, and craftsmen totaled at least 30,000 people. All kinds of baggage and grain and grass vehicles were lined up in rows, and the soldiers formed two wings to protect them. After traveling for forty miles, we left Xie Valley to Wuzhangyuan and walked slowly along the banks of the Weishui River.
The procession was spectacular, like a moving terrifying beast, crushing everything in front of them into dust.
In history, Zhuge Liang was forced to farm on the Wuzhangyuan due to food and grass problems, and wanted to farm while fighting. It can be seen that even if there were wooden cows and horses, for Ji Han in history, food and grass were still a drawback that was difficult to solve.
However, after several years of careful preparation, Hanzhong's people's livelihood was not as poor as in history. Food and grass needed to be allocated from Chengdu, which saved a link in the middle and greatly shortened the cost of transporting food.
So at this moment Shen Chen’s Northern Expeditionary Army is huge, with 80,000 soldiers, 30,000 civilians working as corvees on Chencang Road and Baoxie Road in the rear, and 20,000 civilians after leaving Chencang Road and Xiegu, plus all kinds of craftsmen A total of 150,000 auxiliary troops were dispatched to attack Chang'an City.
A war of this scale was obviously a great war in ancient times, and it could leave a mark even in the history of any war.
However, this is only part of it, because Nanyang is the main force.
In early December, just when Shen Chen had taken the lead in launching the Battle of Chang'an and surrounded Chang'an with 80,000 troops, Jingzhou's war machine was finally rumbling.
Liu Bei personally led the army and went north to Wancheng.
Afterwards, he ordered Gan Ning to be the vanguard and Zhang Fei to be the front general. He led 30,000 troops and left the Nanyang Basin to march directly to Henan.
And he himself was in charge of the central army. The main force was huge, followed by 50,000 people.
He also ordered Wen Pin to serve as the rear army to guard Wancheng and protect the rear.
There are also more than ten senior generals in the army, including Ma Chao, Zhang Xiu, Lu Chang, Wu Yi, Wu Ban, Gao Xiang, Dong Jue, Feng Xi, Zhang Nan, and Zhang Ren.
There are dozens of middle and senior generals such as Meng Da, Kou Feng, Liao Hua, Huang Quan, Yang Huai, Gao Pei, Deng Xian, Leng Bao, Liu Quan, Fu Jin, etc.
The total number of soldiers was 120,000, plus civilians, auxiliary soldiers, and craftsmen, the total number of troops dispatched exceeded 200,000, and they marched towards Henan.
After learning that Liu Bei was on his own expedition, Cao Pi did not dare to neglect, and immediately led 50,000 horses from Luoyang to the south. Adding in the civilian labor force, the total number of people on his side also exceeded 200,000.
In this way, if we only count the combat troops for this battle, both sides in Chang'an and Henan alone used 450,000 soldiers. If we include the corvee laborers and auxiliary craftsmen, the total number has exceeded 700,000.
But that's not all.
Because just the day before Liu Bei sent troops, Guan Yu also sent troops.
Cao Wei's troops in Hefei were relatively small. Zhang Liao's city of Hefei initially had only 8,000 people. In August this year, Cao Pi sent an additional 10,000 troops, and now there are less than 20,000.
Then Cao Xiu, Lu Qian, Zang Ba and others were stationed in Runan, Shouchun, Guangling and other places, with about 30,000 to 40,000 troops on hand.
In this way, the total strength of Cao's army in the Huainan direction was less than 50,000.
Guan Yu then sent 80,000 troops.
Counting civilians, auxiliary soldiers, and craftsmen on both sides, the total number is basically over 200,000.
Therefore, during the three-way Northern Expedition, the manpower used by both sides was already in the millions, not to mention the massive material resources and support troops.
In fact, Liu Bei's group dispatched about 280,000 soldiers, and Cao Wei's group dispatched 270,000. It seems that Cao Wei's group was obviously stronger than Liu Bei's group, but it sent fewer troops.
But in fact, Liu Bei has tried his best this time in the Northern Expedition. The total number of remaining troops in Liangzhou, Yizhou, Jingzhou, Jiaozhou, and Yangzhou is more than 100,000. The Cao Wei Group even has more troops along the rear lines in Hebei and Henan. More than 100,000 reserves.
The main reason is that Liu Bei's territory is too large. Although he has sent Shen Chen, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu and others to quell most of the barbarian rebellions in the south in recent years, especially when he personally caressed Shanyue, Shen Chen settled Liangzhou, and Zhuge Liang pacified the southern barbarians, allowing The future troubles in places such as Yangzhou, Xiliang and Yizhou have basically been pacified, so there is no need to worry about barbarian rebellions.
But a large territory means that the defense line is also very large, the population is scattered, the territory is vast, and there are a lot of county soldiers who have to stay behind. It is not only the problem of barbarian rebellion, but also the southern areas such as Jiaozhou, Nanzhong, Minnan, Qiandi, etc. Even the Han people in the region may not be willing to obey the government.
Just like Tao Yuanming wrote "Peach Blossom Spring", there are a large number of Han people living in many deep mountains and old forests in the south. They use clan as a bond, do not pay taxes, and do not register for citizenship. It would be fine if they are honest, but some people will go down the mountains to carry out robberies. plunder.
These people gathered together and even dared to attack the county town when supplies were scarce.
There are many such rebellions by Han people in the south in historical records. Even Jiaozhi Xianglin was separated from Han territory due to the rebellion of Gongcao District Company in Han County.
Therefore, to a certain extent, Liu Bei was hindered by the huge territory.
But even so, his hard power was already very strong. The three-pronged Northern Expedition, each with strong soldiers and horses, seriously threatened Cao Wei's empire.
By mid-December, Liu Bei's army gathered in Wancheng, while Gan Ning and Zhang Fei arrived in Ye County and marched towards Kunyang Wuyang.
Shen Chen took the lead because he started earlier and was more prepared.
Liu Bei was much slower mainly because his troops were a bit bloated, and he had fewer cavalry and had more things to consider, so his troop advance was not that fast.
Guan Yu had already arrived in Hefei at this time.
The land route from Hefei to Ruxukou is actually only one hundred kilometers, but the water route taken by Guan Yu is faster.
The mighty fleet that covered the sky went north along the Ruxu River, entered Chaohu Lake, and then entered Shishui from Chaohu Lake to the Xiaoyaojin Ferry outside Hefei.
On December 11, at the end of lunch time, countless boats arrived at Xiaoyaojin Ferry, crowding the east bank of the river.
Hefei is to the north of Shishui, which runs from the south to the west of Hefei City, and then extends all the way north to Feishui. Therefore, if you want to get off the boat from Xiaoyaojin and enter Hefei, you often have to go down from the east bank.
The Battle of Hefei when Sun Quan attacked Hefei took place in the east city of Hefei, and the Battle of Xiaoyaojin also took place here.
This place is still some distance from Hefei City, about ten miles, but Cao Jun's scouting horse has already learned the news, and hurried back to report the situation to Zhang Liao in the city.
So at noon, Zhang Liao led his soldiers up the city wall.
He looked into the distance. On the vast horizon southeast of Hefei City, countless figures had appeared. The one at the front was a tall body, riding an equally tall war horse. The sword in his hand was dragged upside down on the ground, and he was slowly heading towards Hefei City. Come.
Clouds grow!
Zhang Liao looked there with a deep gaze. The old faces in his eyes showed that they were in their thirties.