Because now Cao Pi has moved the capital to Luoyang, and there is only Tongguan as a line of defense from Chang'an to Luoyang.
During the Warring States Period, Hangu Pass could no longer be used due to the diversion of the Yellow River. This meant that once Shen Chen broke through the Tongguan defense line, he could directly take the capital of Cao Wei.
This feeling of the enemy being close at hand made Cao Pi feel deeply frightened. He even wanted to abandon Luoyang and move the capital back to Yecheng, Hebei Province, but was finally stopped by Sima Yi, Chen Qun and others.
But strategically, they were already at an absolute disadvantage. Liu Bei's group was weak in national strength and still took the initiative to attack. Cao Pi originally wanted to rely on the huge national power to bring down Liu Bei's group, and use cities, forts, and terrain to block Liu Bei's Northern Expedition from outside the defense line.
But now with the loss of the Western Front, they fell into a passive position in terms of overall strategy. Although they could still rely on Tongguan for resistance, once Tongguan was lost, it would mean that Cao Wei's capital was under attack and the empire was in danger of being wiped out.
So the most urgent task now is to think about what to do.
The counselors believe that the current situation is very unfavorable to them, so they must seek a quick victory. If Liu Bei can be defeated in the frontal Henan battlefield, this decline may be able to be changed.
So Cao Pi changed his previous tendency to avoid fighting and ordered Xiahou Yuan, Zhang He and others on the front line to send troops to seek a decisive battle with the main force of Liu Bei's group on the front line.
However, the counselors of Liu Bei's group had also anticipated this, so they also changed their previous strategy of constantly provoking war. Liu Bei asked Zhang Fei to hang up his no-war card, while Pang Tong, Fazheng and others stayed at the camp and refused to confront Cao's army.
Everyone knows that Cao Pi is the one who is anxious now.
After the Western Front was lost, whether Shen Chen continued to attack Tongguan or captured the state, it would put tremendous pressure on Cao Wei. Cao Pi wanted to defeat Liu Bei as soon as possible and then return to defend Guanzhong, so how could Liu Bei give him this opportunity.
Therefore, the situation in Henan suddenly reversed. Previously, Liu Bei's group was eager to seek war, while Cao Wei's group avoided war. Now, it became that Cao Wei's group was eager to seek war, while Liu Bei's group avoided war.
Just when the situation in Guanzhong changed drastically, and the situation in Henan also changed, the situation in Huainan also suddenly changed dramatically.
In the sixth year of Emperor Zhangwu of Han Dynasty and the seventh year of Emperor Huangchu period of Wei Dynasty, in early May, it rained for more than ten days in Jiujiang area.
It was not until late May or early June that the rain became much less intense.
On June 2nd, at the end of the sunrise and the beginning of the eclipse, the clouds were dark and the sun was hazy. The rain that had been falling for many days suddenly stopped. A few long-lost rays of the sun shone through the thick dark clouds, reflecting on the rain-soaked sky. on the land.
During this period, the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River are in the rainy season, and the water flow downstream increases sharply, causing the flow of water in rivers such as fertilizer and Shishui to increase dramatically. The wilderness is covered with swamps and lakes.
However, this is just a normal phenomenon during the rainy season in the Huainan area, and the intensity of the rain was not so exaggerated as when the floods flooded Xiangfan in the early morning of that year. The river surged five to six feet high and submerged the entire city of Xiangfan.
Therefore, it is obviously impossible for Guan Yu to repeat the flood that flooded Hefei.
What's more important is that even if the rainwater is as heavy as the flood that flooded Xiangfan, Huainan's flood discharge capacity is not comparable to that of Xiangfan. Xiangfan has only one Han River. If the water volume exceeds the flood discharge capacity of the Han River, it is normal for Xiangfan on the edge of the Han River to be submerged. things.
However, there are three very large lakes in Huainan: Shaopi, Chaohu, and Penglize. There are hundreds of large and small rivers that can be used to divert and discharge floods. It is impossible for floods to submerge the entire Huainan.
Therefore, this heavy rain will not bring much help to Guan Yu's attack on Hefei.
But it is convenient for him to attack Chengde.
Cao Xiu's camp in Chengde was located on a higher ground and was not flooded or suffered any losses.
But his cavalry was useless.
After the heavy rain, the entire Chengde wilderness was filled with swamps and the roads were muddy. It was very difficult for people to run on such a road, let alone horse racing.
At this time, Wating was more than 20 miles away from Chengde County and more than 100 miles away from Hefei.
When the morning sun fell on the earth and brought brightness to the earth, the lookout above the high oars of Cao Xiu's camp in Wating had already seen the mighty fleet on Feishui to the west from a distance.
"Ohh Ohh ohh!"
The desolate horn suddenly woke up the entire camp, and Cao Jun seemed to wake up from the deathly silence. The sounds of various horns, war drums, and bone whistles continued.
The fleet in the distance quickly stopped on the fat water, and then countless small boats launched into the water and docked. The densely packed boats covered the entire river, and with the help of the criss-crossing network of waterways, they sailed into the group of lakes southwest of Wating.
This was later known as Wabu Lake in Anhui. The west side was now hundreds of miles away from Shaopi, and the waterway network was extremely developed. Due to heavy rain, Cao's army was now trapped on a high slope, and it was difficult for the cavalry to even take a few steps, let alone come out to meet the enemy.
However, Guan Yu, who owned the fleet, successfully used the intertwined water network to surround the camp southwest of Cao Xiu's camp. Cao Xiu's tens of thousands of military camps stretched for more than ten miles, and this was just one of the camps.
When Cao Xiu's general Fan Ling learned about Guan Yu's attack in the camp, he was horrified and quickly went to the camp to take command. At the same time, he asked for help from the other Cao camps in the east and north.
Guan Yu stood at the bow of the ship, with an old and resolute face. He was still wearing the brocade green robe, and his gray and white beard was gently swaying in the wind. Even Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao on the left and right sides were already old and could no longer serve him.
Resist the sword and lead the horse.
But his tall body looked straight at the distant camp with the help of the tall hull. Even with gray hair, he did not change his heroic nature. When he saw the airship driven by the soldiers in the distance approaching Wating, he waved his hand.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"
The continuous sounds of horns and drums suddenly became extremely fast-paced.
After receiving this signal, the soldiers who had surrounded Cao's camp immediately began to dock, and then rushed towards Cao's camp from all directions carrying ladders.
"Shoot, shoot, shoot!"
Fan Ling let out a heartbreaking cry. He now looked ferocious because there were too many Han troops coming.
The camps are scattered randomly, and each camp often only has a few thousand people.
His soldiers totaled just over 3,000. Although under normal circumstances, the nearest camps could rush for reinforcements at any time, the recent heavy rains had flooded the roads. It was extremely difficult to wait for reinforcements in a short period of time.
So the current situation is that he has more than 3,000 soldiers, relying on flimsy camps to defend against the attack of tens of thousands of Han troops. Is this something that humans can do?
Following Fan Ling's order, a hail of arrows rained down towards the Han army outside the camp.
Most of the arrows hit the shield in front, and then the Han army launched a fierce attack on the high slope. They howled like wild wolves and rushed to the slope. They hooked the wall with the barb on the ladder and stared at it.
He started climbing up with a hail of arrows.
Especially in the direction of the village gate, a large number of Han troops swarmed in. One Cao army often had to deal with the attacks of seven or eight or even more than ten Han troops, even if he stood high and stabbed them with spears.
When a large number of Cao's soldiers were stabbing down with long spears, they were grabbed by the gun handles. Several people helped pull them, and they were able to be brought under the wall in one fell swoop.
There were all kinds of screams, clashes of swords and guns, shouts of killing, and wailing.
Immediately afterwards, a chaotic sound like a house collapsing suddenly erupted from the direction of the village gate, and then someone shouted like a ghost wailing like a wolf, "The camp is broken!". At that moment, the figures on the wall of the village were screaming and killing, and the banging sounds of swords and guns were heard in the distance.
Time is near.
The Han troops poured in like a tide along the breach opened by the axe. Many Cao troops either fled north through the north gate to other Cao camps, or surrendered on the spot. They stubbornly resisted and were quickly killed.
Fan Ling was beheaded by Guan Ping in the rebellion. Under Guan Ping's leadership, the entire camp was quickly captured by the Han army. For a moment, everything seemed to be completely silent.
But soon a large number of Cao soldiers from the nearby Cao camps in the north and east began to gather and rush towards this side.
When Cao Xiu learned that Guan Yu was attacking Wating, he hurriedly rectified his soldiers and gathered tens of thousands of troops. On the advice of his adviser Sun Li, he chose to take the initiative and assembled troops outside the camp to prepare for a decisive battle with Guan Yu.
It won't work without a decisive battle.
Although Cao Xiu's camp was not flooded, the rising water caused a large number of lakes and swamps to appear in the original wilderness plain.
This means that his camp has been divided by crisscrossing water flows, and the seven or eight camps that stretch for more than ten miles have now become lake areas.
It turns out that the camps are horns to each other and are scattered randomly. Once any camp is attacked, other camps can rush to help immediately, thus forming the role of alternate cover.
But now the roads are flooded, and even the areas that are not flooded are muddy, making it difficult for the various camps to respond as quickly as before.
If you continue to stay in the camp, you will be defeated by Guan Yu one by one.
So we can only choose to go out to fight against each other.
He chose the location for the decisive battle in the northeastern area of Wating, which has more flat areas. He abandoned several forts and stood firm in the northeast corner.
This place is a little far away from the lake area in the south, with a plain area of three to four square kilometers. Although the land is still wet and muddy due to rain, it is at least much better than fighting in the criss-crossing lake area.
In the distance, Guan Yu has led his army deep into the lake area. On the battleship, he saw the enemy gathering on the plain four or five miles to the northeast. Guan Yu thought for a moment and then issued an order: "Let the soldiers rush over. Where is Wei Yan?"
?”
"The end is here!"
Wei Yan has been following Guan Yu in Jiangdong for the past few years, and has become Guan Yu's top general.
Guan Yu pointed to the east and said: "You lead four thousand people and sail across the east waterway. When we fight with them, we will raid their flanks."
"only!"
Wei Yan received the order and immediately disembarked, flags fluttering, and soon hundreds of ships followed him eastward.
"Where is Zhou Cang?"
"The end will be here."
"You lead 3,000 men, go around them, wait for Wei Yan to attack from the east, and then cover them from the west."
"only!"
"The rest of the generals, follow me in the frontal attack!"
"only!"
Many generals under his command agreed.
At that moment, Guan Yu's main force all came ashore, gathered at Wating, and then headed towards Cao Xiu's army in the distance through the water.
The two sides quickly approached, and the number of the Han army exceeded that of the Cao army.
Because Cao Xiu's army in Runan only had 30,000 troops, and the total troops of Lu Qian and Zang Ba were less than 50,000.
Guan Yu's main force was 80,000, of which 30,000 surrounded Hefei City. He personally led an army of 50,000 to the north to meet Cao Xiu, so he had more men than Cao Xiu's troops.
It's not that Cao Wei had few troops.
Mainly, Cao Wei's idea was to delay the attrition tactics, and try to use as few troops and horses as possible on the front line to achieve defensive purposes.
Therefore, Cao Xiu's original mission was to be in the Ruyin area east of Runan, and then use Zhang Liao of Hefei, Lu Qian of Shouchun, and Zang Ba of Guangling to form four lines of defense to block Guan Yu layer by layer.
As a result, Liu Bei's long-distance attack would consume more than twice as much as Cao's army. After a year and a half, Liu Bei's group might have to retreat due to running out of food.
At this time, if Cao Wei pursues again, he may be able to achieve a great victory. If he is lucky, as Jiang Ji said, if he drags Liu Bei to death, he can really dominate the world.
However, Guan Yu and Zhang Liao communicated too frequently, which aroused Xue Ti's alarm and reported to Cao Xiu. Cao Xiu also became worried about the situation in Hefei and had no choice but to come over in person.
Unexpectedly, it happened to be the rainy season in Huainan, and the wilderness was full of swamps, so his cavalry could not display its power.
The two sides were facing each other head-on. Cao Xiu had at least 10,000 cavalrymen. Even if Guan Yu's army waded ashore, he did not dare to directly order an attack. Without horseshoes, the muddy and slippery ground would have too much impact.
When the main force of the Han army reached the plain area and assembled their formation, they began to move forward. Following Guan Yu's order, the Han army launched a charge.
"kill!"
Cao Xiu raised his sword high.
"kill!"
Cao Jun also let out a shocking roar.
Then a hail of arrows covered the sky and the two sides collided like a torrent.
The ones at the front who resisted were the infantry. The Cao army's infantry were far less than the Han army's infantry, and they were at a disadvantage from the beginning.
But soon Cao Xiu ordered his cavalry to outflank the enemy and quickly cut the battlefield in an attempt to restore the situation.
Little did he know that Guan Yu had been prepared. In the swamp lake on the east side, hundreds of ships appeared on the lake covered by countless water plants and reeds.
They bypassed the frontal battlefield and came to Cao Jun's eastern flank. Then they began to disembark from their boats and go ashore, and launched a sudden attack from Cao Jun's left flank.
Cao's army was caught off guard and their formation was on the verge of collapse.
Immediately afterwards, Zhou Cang launched an attack from the right wing of Cao's army in the west, causing chaos on both the left and right wings of Cao's army.
Seeing this, Guan Yu immediately ordered the entire army to attack and stormed the front of Cao's army.
The front and the left and right sides were gradually unable to hold up. In an instant, it was like a mountain collapsing, and the army was defeated like a mountain. Countless Cao soldiers dropped their weapons and retreated to the rear.
Cao Xiu himself was also injured in the chaos. If his guards had not fought hard to get him out, he would have died by the sword.
The Han army pursued all the way and drove tens of thousands of Cao's troops hundreds of miles away. They pursued and killed them for a full day and night until they fled back to Shouchun in embarrassment, and then they stopped and went back.
In this battle, Guan Yu killed thousands of Cao's troops and captured nearly 10,000. It can be said that he won a great victory and shocked Huainan.
For a time, the Han army captured Chang'an on the western front, defeated Cao Xiu on the eastern front, and surrounded Hefei. The situation on the entire east and west fronts was already very unfavorable to Cao Wei.