Chapter 544: Gather elite soldiers and waste Jing into Henan
The news of Zhang Fei's withdrawal soon reached Sima Yi.
At first, Sima Yi didn't believe that Zhang Fei really retreated.
Because he had been besieged by Zhang Fei in recent days, he did not know the news that Jia Kui's reinforcements had arrived.
Under this situation, Sima Yi thought Zhang Fei's retreat was suspicious.
He felt that based on Zhang Fei's previous performance, this might be Zhang Fei's new strategy to lure the enemy.
Therefore, Sima Yi did not act rashly at first.
It is always difficult to get an old turtle to leave the turtle shell that can save his life.
But within a few days, Sima Yi's worried heart gradually relaxed.
It turned out that after Jia Kui learned about Zhang Fei's retreat, he led his reinforcements step by step closer to Wancheng, and arrived outside Sima Yi's camp.
When he saw Jia Kui appearing in front of him, especially when he saw the tens of thousands of reinforcements in neat appearance behind Jia Kui, Sima Yi was filled with the feeling of surviving a disaster.
Who knows how he spent this time?
Every day is spent under tremendous pressure of life and death.
Perhaps Jia Kui did not personally experience Sima Yi's fear during this period.
But after entering the Wei army camp and seeing the current situation of Sergeant Sima Yi, even the well-informed Jia Kui couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Outside the Wei army's camp, broken arrows were intertwined with the broken limbs and arms of the Wei army, and they were densely covered in front of the entire camp.
In the Wei army camp, Jia Kui saw that most of the Wei army officers were wounded, and their mental state was also very depressed.
A gloomy and dilapidated atmosphere permeated the entire Wei army camp.
Obviously, if he had come half a month later, it is really hard to say whether Sima Yi could have defended the Wei army camp.
What caused this scene was not only Zhang Fei's violent attack with the Han army, but also an order given by Sima Yi.
In order to speed up his return to Wancheng, Sima Yi left behind a large amount of his army's baggage.
This resulted in the Wei army's food and grass not being very sufficient.
The enemy's offensive was fierce, and our own food and grass were not sufficient. Under internal and external difficulties, it would be strange for Sima Yi's sergeants not to be depressed.
After knowing this, Jia Kui generously distributed the food, grass and herbs he had with the army to Sima Yi's sergeants.
Jia Kui's move greatly stabilized Sergeant Sima Yi's military morale.
With Jia Kui's support, Sima Yi quickly reorganized his army, and then took Jia Kui with him to Wancheng.
After entering the city of Wancheng, which was fortified and thick, Sima Yi's hanging heart was completely relieved.
But Jia Kui's next words made Sima Yi's heart rise again.
"Zhongda.
Although Wancheng has not been lost, it is true that Jiyang fell to the enemy. How should you explain this to the prince?
In addition, the loss of Jiyang means that the enemy can now drive straight into Wancheng without any hindrance. Faced with this severe situation, how should you deal with it?"
Jia Kui asked these two most important questions at the moment with a serious expression.
But these two questions were what Sima Yi least wanted to hear at the moment.
It's gratifying that he escaped, but the loss of Jiyang is also a fact.
Given the importance of Jiyang in Nanyang County, the loss of Jiyang is bound to cause quite a stir in Luoyang and Nanyang County.
This disturbance is harmful to Sima Yi.
Sima Yi frowned immediately after hearing Jia Kui's inquiry.
When Jia Kui saw that Sima Yi didn't answer him immediately, he urged him.
It's not that Jia Kui couldn't see Sima Yi's gloomy look, it's just that compared to caring about Sima Yi's personal emotions, Jia Kui was more concerned about Wancheng's safety.
If Sima Yi cannot give him satisfactory answers to these two questions, Jia Kui will immediately write to Cao Rui and ask Cao Rui to transfer Sima Yi away from Wancheng.
Jia Kui didn't mind having himself in charge of Wancheng.
After Jia Kui urged him again, Sima Yi finally answered: "I will write to the court to truthfully tell the whole story of the loss of Ji Yang."
"Although the loss of Jiyang has exposed Wancheng to the enemy's front at all times, it does not mean that Wancheng is undefendable.
Wancheng is a fortified city in the world, with countless supplies and weapons. As long as I keep the walls clear and refuse to leave the city to fight the enemy, it will not be easy for Zhang Fei to capture Wancheng."
"Don't worry, Mr. Jia, Yi will definitely live and die with Wancheng!"
After listening to Sima Yi's answer, Jia Kui nodded with satisfaction.
Sima Yi's attitude and strategy were recognized by Jia Kui.
This made Jia Kui make a decision.
Jia Kui said to Sima Yi: "I will write to the prince to speak kindly to Zhongda."
Sima Yi was immediately overjoyed to receive such a promise from Jia Kui.
Jia Kui's reputation among the government and the public is unmatched by ordinary people.
It can be said that as long as Jia Kui can live a few more years, with his reputation, he will definitely become one of the three princes in the future.
Having such a person speak kind words for him would probably alleviate his guilt a lot.
Although he couldn't escape punishment, he thought that Cao Rui would give him a chance to redeem himself and make meritorious deeds.
Sima Yi immediately thanked Jia Kui.
Jia Kui didn't care much about Sima Yi's thanks.
He was willing to speak kindly to Sima Yi, not because he wanted to cultivate his own interpersonal relationships, but purely because of Wei.
It is true that the loss of Ji Yang represents Sima Yi's dereliction of duty.
But after understanding Zhang Fei's overall plan, even Jia Kui was secretly speechless.
If he were in Sima Yi's position, he would not do better than Sima Yi.
The loss of Ji Yang cannot prove Sima Yi's incompetence, it can only be said that Zhang Fei is too weird.
On the contrary, if it weren't for Sima Yi, Zhang Fei would have captured Wancheng in one fell swoop.
Because it was Sima Yi who made a keen judgment and wrote to himself asking for help, the Wei Dynasty finally did not lose the important town of Wancheng.
It was for this reason that Jia Kui was willing to take action to protect Sima Yi.
After all, it cannot be said that the Wei Dynasty does not have generals at present, but the territory of the Wei Dynasty is too vast and the generals are too scattered.
If Cao Rui evacuated Sima Yi rashly, the newly appointed guard might not be as good as Sima Yi.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! At least Sima Yi can clearly see that "strengthening the wall and clearing the field without fighting the enemy" is the best strategy to deal with the enemy at the moment.
After accepting Sima Yi's thanks, Jia Kui did not stay long.
He is the governor of Yuzhou, and with Sun Quan's frequent actions recently, he cannot stay away from Yuzhou for a long time.
So after bowing to Sima Yi, Jia Kui led his army to leave Wancheng that day.
Following Jia Kui's departure, two memorials from Sima Yi and Jia Kui were also sent to Luoyang not long after.
...
Cao Rui stood on the west wall of Luoyang City, looking to the west.
Cao Rui was not looking at Chang'an in the distance, he was watching an elite Wei army gradually retreating away.
The Wei army was commanded by Zhang He and gathered the elite troops from Guanzhong and Huainan to rescue Longyou.
Wancheng is not far from Luoyang. Zhang He set out from Wancheng before and arrived in Luoyang city in a short time.
Zhang He originally wanted to head towards the street pavilion immediately after meeting Cao Rui.
However, his idea was blocked by Cao Rui.
It's not that Cao Rui suddenly changed his mind and wanted to appoint someone else as his general.
He wanted to add another important bargaining chip to Zhang He's remarks.
This bargaining chip is the elite Cao Xiu asked Man Chong to bring from Huainan.
After all, it was expected that the street pavilion would be occupied by the Han army in advance, which meant that after Zhang He arrived at the street pavilion, there would be a tough battle.
If we want to fight a tough battle, how can the cavalry alone do it?
Zhang He delayed his departure until today in order to wait for the arrival of Huainan's elite troops.
Before Zhang He set out, Cao Rui had private conversations with Zhang He no less than three times.
Cao Rui is a master who likes to be in control of everything. Although he has often heard of Zhang He's reputation when he was young, how can he compare to being famous in person?
Cao Rui wanted to listen to Zhang He's strategy before he went out to fight.
And Zhang He did not disappoint Cao Rui.
After several in-depth discussions, Cao Rui understood that Zhang He was indeed a rare general.
Even though Zhang He was beaten by Zhang Fei and "climbed a mountain to escape", victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists. Didn't Zhang Fei also lose at the hands of Cao Xiu?
Precisely because he recognized Zhang He's talents and his own preparations were sufficient this time, Cao Rui was still very confident in Zhang He's expedition.
Otherwise, he would not have come to the city gate to see Zhang He off in person.
After being unable to even see Zhang He's rear troops, Cao Rui walked down from the city gate with some unfinished thoughts.
Before walking down the city gate, Cao Rui was still sighing in his heart - Emperor Wu was still far-sighted and left the Wei Dynasty with all the heroes of the moment.
But not long before Cao Rui returned to the palace, two urgent reports from Wancheng made Cao Rui feel bad.
Cao Rui looked at the two memorials in his hand, with a coldness flowing in his eyes.
There are two memorials, one from Sima Yi and one from Jia Kui.
After reading the contents of the two memorials, the good mood that finally inspired Cao Rui disappeared in an instant.
Cao Rui had learned military tactics from Jia Xu several years ago.
Under this kind of training, Cao Rui naturally knew how important Ji Yang was to Wancheng.
That's Wancheng's barrier!
And what about Wancheng?
Since the Han Dynasty, China has had a tradition of establishing five capitals.
During the more than 400 years of the Han Dynasty, Wancheng has always been one of the five capitals because of its economic and cultural advantages.
Although after the establishment of Cao Wei, Wancheng was removed from the ranks of the five capitals and Qiaocheng replaced it.
But how can the influence of more than four hundred years be so easily eliminated?
In the hearts of the world, Wancheng has never left the ranks of the five capitals of China.
In other words, Sima Yi lost Ji Yang who was guarding the capital in one battle.
It is self-evident how serious the political and military implications of this incident are.
The most ridiculous thing is that Zhang He had only been in Luoyang for half a month.
And Sima Yi lost Ji Yang within half a month of Zhang He leaving Wancheng.
How could this not make Cao Rui angry?
If Sima Yi were to lose cities at this rate, no matter how many important cities the Wei Dynasty had, they would all be lost before they could establish themselves.
To be honest, if it weren't for Jia Kui's kind words, Cao Rui would have issued an edict to remove Sima Yi.
Compared to his grandfather, are all the people promoted by his father this kind of thing?
However, after reading Jia Kui's sweet words and knowing that Sima Yi's opponent was Zhang Fei, Cao Rui's anger gradually subsided.
After all, Sima Yi had neglected his duties in this battle, but he was not extremely stupid.
Moreover, after Zhang Fei captured Jiyang, he would definitely besiege Wancheng with heavy troops.
In such a critical situation, it is indeed not a wise thing to change generals on the spot.
In the end, Cao Rui only made two decisions about this battle.
"Pass an edict: remove Sima Yi's title of General Annan and demote him to General Huwan."
In Cao Wei, General Annan was also considered a first-level general, but his authority was relatively small.
No matter how small he is, General Annan can still nominally control the entire war in Jingzhou.
But General Huwan is not.
As the name suggests, General Huwan can only be responsible for the military affairs around Wancheng. As for other places, he has no chance to do so.
Cao Rui's demotion directly affected Sima Yi's aristocracy.
After finishing this edict, Cao Rui hesitated for a while and then continued: "Abolish the counties in Jingzhou, change Nanyang County to Wei'an County, and incorporate it into Yuzhou."
If Cao Rui's first edict was normal, then his second edict surprised Sun Zi and Liu Fang who were standing by, and they looked at each other in confusion.
Once this edict is issued, it will undoubtedly declare to the world that the Wei Dynasty will no longer have control over Jingzhou.
Cao Wei, who claimed to rule nine states in the world, thus became eight states.
If the face-conscious Cao Pi knew about this, he would definitely not agree.
After seeing Sun Zi and Liu Fang's hesitant expressions, Cao Rui said decisively: "No need to hesitate, just do as Gu said."
In Cao Rui's view, it was inevitable to abandon Jing and enter Henan.
After the Battle of Xiangfan, Cao Wei's territory north of the Han River was greatly reduced, and even Nanyang County was divided into two.
This situation means that Cao Wei has no strategic depth in the Wancheng area.
This reason is also another internal reason why Sima Yi lost Ji Yang.
Because of the lack of strategic depth, Sima Yi, the Annan general, had no choice but to be led by Zhang Fei in order not to lose Ji Yang.
After losing Ji Yang, Cao Wei's control near Wancheng will be further weakened.
Based on the current situation, Sima Yi was lucky if he could control several counties around Wancheng and not surrender to the Han army.
Therefore, if he does not incorporate the surrounding areas of Wancheng into the political area of Yuzhou, Wancheng is likely to become an isolated city in the subsequent battles.
Although Wancheng is very close to Yuzhou, no matter how powerful Jia Kui is, he cannot support Wancheng indefinitely across the state - Jia Kui's rapid retreat from Wancheng has proved this.
Therefore, the current existence of Jingzhou, in addition to not embarrassing Cao Wei too much in terms of face, will actually become a huge strategic shortcoming of the Wei army.
In this case, does Jingzhou still have any significance for its existence?
Don't seek fame, but seek real benefits. This is the life creed that Professor Cao Cao gave to Cao Rui.
Cao Cao relied on this life creed to develop and grow step by step.
As Cao Cao's most valued heir, Cao Rui naturally knew what decision he should make at what time.
Seeing Cao Rui's decisive attitude, Sun Zi and Liu Fang no longer hesitated, and quickly wrote the edict and asked their eunuchs to send it to the Chancellor.
At the same time that the edicts were sent to Wancheng and Yuzhou, thousands of miles away in Longyou, a well-equipped Han army also came to the street pavilion.