Chapter 138 This shocking gamble (please vote for me!)
Luoyang, the capital of Wei, the imperial palace.
Cao Rui walked around the North Palace, anxious.
Putting aside whether it is true or false, the Wei State has currently received three pieces of information.
First, there are 50,000 Shu troops in the Ziwu Valley, trying to sneak attack Guanzhong.
Of course, the Wei army currently ambushing in Ziwu Valley has not seen even a hair.
Second, a thousand Shu soldiers appeared under Chencang City in an attempt to attack the city. It is currently unknown whether there are any follow-up troops in Chencang Road behind.
Third, on the right side of Longyi, Zhao Yun, who was stationed in Xi County, led five thousand troops and was approaching Shanggui City in Tianshui County. He only marched more than ten miles a day and was so slow that he didn't know what he was doing.
Combining this information, Wei Emperor Cao Rui, who was in Luoyang, took a deep breath and quickly summoned officials to discuss countermeasures.
At the moment, the southern front is reaching a critical moment. The Wei army has the upper hand, and the three Wu armies are afraid to show their heads. If we try harder, we might be able to cross the Yangtze River and march into Wu. It would be a pity to withdraw at this time. .
But if we don’t withdraw our troops, what will we do if Shu is attacked from three directions?
Cao Rui was in a dilemma. He looked around at his ministers and said worriedly: "My lords, Shu is attacking from three directions. What can we do?"
Sikong Chen Qun raised his hands and stepped out of the queue, saying: "Your Majesty, don't worry. In my opinion, the three Shu armies are nothing to worry about."
Cao Rui was overjoyed when he heard this: "Oh, why don't you worry about it? Please tell me quickly, please, to clear up my doubts."
Chen Qun said calmly: "Your Majesty, Wu and Shu are already at odds with each other, and they are an alliance thousands of miles apart, so it is difficult to coordinate. The Shu army that is attacking now does not know the battle situation of the Wu army in the south of the Yangtze River, and the Wu army in the south of the Yangtze River does not know the battle situation of the Shu army in the north, so it refuses to It’s not difficult.”
"Moreover, since ancient times, there has never been a case of a surprise attack in which a party disclosed its troop strength and marching route to the public in advance. Therefore, the veteran believes that the 50,000 Shu troops in the Ziwu Valley do not exist. This must be a perfunctory statement by the Shu State to deal with the Wu State."
"In addition, the more than a thousand Shu soldiers under Chencang City are nothing to worry about. The guard Hao Zhao knows that the soldiers are good at guarding, and he will definitely be able to protect our city."
"As for the five thousand partial divisions of Zhao Yun's tribe in Longyou, judging from their marching speed of only more than ten miles per day, it can be inferred that this is just a feint attack and they will retreat soon!"
"To sum up, the Shu army was called a three-pronged attack to break the siege of Wu. In fact, it only dispatched 1,000 troops. Its perfunctory attitude was obvious."
"Therefore, the old minister believes that we, the Wei Dynasty, should seize this opportunity and increase our offensive to destroy Wu in one fell swoop. If we can destroy Wu, by then only Shu will be weak, how can we, the Wei Dynasty, stop us from unifying the world?"
"Okay, okay, okay!" Cao Rui clapped his hands and laughed, stood up proudly, and praised: "I am really enlightened after listening to your words."
"I am sending an order to the three generals Zhang He, Hao Zhao and Cao Shuang. If they see the Shu army coming to attack, they will attack them with thunder. If the Shu army does not come to attack, I will guard the three places and wait for them to retreat without success."
"Instruct Sima Yi, Wang Ling, and Xiang Chong to train the navy and prepare for a three-way crossing of the river to destroy Wu!"
After hearing this, all the ministers praised him: "Your Majesty is a wise man."
…
At the top of Chencang City, the fifth day of the stalemate between the Wei and Wu armies.
Seeing that the Shu army was lingering under the city and refused to attack the city, Wang Shuang raised his hands and asked: "General, I am requesting to go out to fight to annihilate the invading enemy!"
"No hurry." Hao Zhao shook his head: "Let's see again."
Under the city.
Ma Su, wearing a soldier's uniform, hid in the crowd and built a pergola to quietly look at Hao Zhao, Wang Shuang and other Wei generals.
While observing the enemy's situation, the four special talents of "High-spirited", "Stride Meteor", "Iron Blood" and "Strike Night Brave" are also in a state of activation at all times. He also secretly made up his mind to immediately act as soon as there is any sign of trouble.
Lead the soldiers to flee.
To be honest, Ma Di never thought about relieving the siege of Wu State, nor did he want to do so.
The purpose of sending troops to Chencang this time was just to perfunctory the Wu State on the surface.
Besides, he was the one who started the war between Wei and Wu, so how could he try to undermine himself?
It was precisely because Wei State did not have the ability to destroy Wu for the time being and the Wu-Shu alliance would have to work together for a long time in the future that Ma Di brought a thousand people to show off.
Fighting with Wei?
He had no such idea at all.
However, although he only brought a thousand soldiers, Ma Su was very confident and allowed the soldiers to put on an arrogant posture as if there were millions of soldiers behind them, and wandered back and forth carelessly under Chencang City.
This arrogant posture made Hao Zhao even more unsure and very uneasy. Even though there were 2,000 soldiers and horses in Chencang City, after several hesitations, he finally decided not to attack rashly.
A person's name, the shadow of a tree. Hao Zhao knew exactly who Ma Di was and what his abilities were.
Ma Di is the kind of person who on the surface seems to have no understanding of military matters, and there are flaws in every aspect of his military formation. But if you really take action, you will definitely suffer a loss.
Didn't you see that during the two battles at Jieting, Ma Su was in a desperate situation, but the situation was not over, and the Wei army was defeated one after another.
Didn't you see that in the previous sneak attack on Chencang, Ma Su led 5,000 men and marched more than 700 miles in five days. Chencang was captured in less than half a day, and the governor Cao Zhen was blocked in the Chencang Road, unable to advance or retreat.
Unexpectedly, there was an ambush in Lueyang, and Ma Di was like God's help. The 20,000 Wei troops who were in ambush were wiped out in an instant.
In the battles of Weixian, Xiabian, and Jianwei, Ma Su was suddenly as steady as an old dog, and suddenly appeared and disappeared, making clever plans, and the Wei army was in a state of embarrassment, losing cities and territory one after another.
After in-depth study of Ma Su's achievements, Hao Zhao suddenly understood.
On the battlefield, the ultimate hunter often appears as prey.
You can see that it has flaws everywhere, but when you actually fight it, those flaws are just illusions.
Those flaws will kill you!
For example, right now, more than a thousand soldiers under the city are tired from walking around, lying carelessly on the ground, enjoying the warm spring weather... Does this look like the word "death" is written on their foreheads?
Any general who knows a little bit about military affairs will think so.
But Hao Zhao doesn't think so.
In his eyes, these Shu soldiers rolling on the grass below the city were all acting.
Although his acting skills are very high, it cannot be hidden from his fiery eyes.
Do you want me to leave the city?
hehe!
However, despite this, the generals still needed to be reassured. Hao Zhao glanced at the generals imperceptibly, deliberately lingering on the anxious face of Wang Shuang, and secretly made up his mind.
If I really can't suppress the desire of the generals to fight, I will send him to fight to verify my guess!
Under the city, Ma Su simply had a tent set up, hid in it and fell asleep.
The Wei army did not come to fight, which was exactly what he wanted.
Anyway, he has already sent troops here and has an explanation to the State of Wu.
Even if the Wei State questioned the "50,000 Shu troops" in the Ziwu Valley, he could have said that the 700-mile valley road was difficult to travel. While building bridges and paving the road, he had to be prepared for an ambush by the Wei State, so he could only travel ten miles a day.
In short, if everything goes well, we will definitely be able to get to the ground and attack Chang'an in about two months!
Hey hey hey.
This excuse is perfect.
Even two months later, when the State of Wu once again questioned the "50,000 Shu army", they could use another explanation: "There is an ambush by the Wei army in the Ziwu Valley and it is difficult to get through."
In short, the State of Wu will definitely not be able to verify the authenticity of these "50,000 Shu troops".
If Shu says it exists, then it exists.
So, now it's time to sit back and watch the fight between tigers and tigers.
Wahahahahaha...
Ma Su laughed excitedly when he thought that Wei and Wu had been fighting for more than four months and were still fighting.
Well done, well done!
The national power of the two countries is plummeting!
If it weren't for the lack of stability points at the moment, Ma Su would even immediately spend 6,000 points to check the attributes of Cao Rui and Sun Quan.
Look at how much their people and armies have declined.
In fact, before coming to this era, Ma Su was a little confused about why the Wei State was so determined to attack the Wu State that it often attacked Wu on a large scale even if they disagreed, but it was always very cautious in attacking Shu.
During Cao Pi's seven-year reign, he organized three expeditions against Wu. Cao Rui also organized several expeditions against Wu, each time with great vigor. The battles of Jiangling and Dongxing were thrilling.
When Wei Guo attacked Wu, he fought when he was told to fight, when he fought, he lost, and when he lost, he lost. He was always ruthless.
But when it came to conquering Shu, Wei suffered a lot.
In the battle for Hanzhong, Cao Cao spent more than half a year preparing to send troops. However, he couldn't stand it after just two months of fighting and withdrew.
Before Cao Zhen sent out troops to attack Shu, the four ministers Chen Qun, Sima Yi, Cao Zhen, and Cao Xiu argued with each other for a long time before finally deciding to send out troops in three directions. But as soon as they sent out troops, they encountered continuous heavy rain and were trapped in the mountain road for a month. Without even touching the hair of Shu, they retreated hastily.
After retreating, Cao Shuang and Xia Houxuan became the jokes in the Wei court and were ridiculed by people at that time. Cao Zhen also became depressed and died of illness.
Even thirty years later, when Sima Zhao decided to conquer Shu, there were voices of opposition throughout the country. Even Deng Ai, the general who conquered the west, expressed opposition. Only Zhong Hui expressed support in the country!
Therefore, the Wei State has never wanted to attack the Shu State. It will not gain much benefit, and it will easily cause problems for itself.
Defeating Wu has always been Wei's priority.
The reason for this was only gradually understood by Ma Su after he came to this era.
From the perspective of future generations, it can be seen at a glance that in order to conquer the south of the Yangtze River, Shu must be conquered first. As long as Shu is destroyed first, occupying the scenic spot on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and then moving down the river, the Wu Kingdom can be destroyed in an instant.
But standing in this era, including the monarchs and ministers of Wei State, no one in the world has such historical experience to learn from!
Wu State was the first force in history to establish a country based on the Yangtze River and have a long-term confrontation with the north!
The only thing Wei could learn from was the case of Liu Xiuping, Gongsun Shu of Shuzhong, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
At that time, Liu Xiuzheng first pacified Jingzhou, Jiangdong and other places, and then attacked Xichuan from Longyou and Jingzhou directions. Finally, due to various reasons, the Jingzhou army became the main attack and went up the river to destroy Gongsun Shu. .
Therefore, what Wei State has been discussing is the defeat of Wu.
Only defeat Wu!
Following Liu Xiu's story, he first pacified the south of the Yangtze River, and then attacked the middle of Shu from the right side of Long, thus pacifying the world in one battle.
Coincidentally, the national policy of the Shu Han regime led by Zhuge Liang is also imitating one person, Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty!
Liu Bang was the only emperor who came out of Shu to bring peace to the world.
Liu Bang's strategy was to first seize Shu, then Guanzhong, and then go eastward to unify the world.
Therefore, in Zhuge Liang's eyes, although Jingzhou is important, it cannot be abandoned (Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, unified the world under the premise that there was Shu but no Jingzhou), so this is why the Shu Han was attacked twice by Soochow
(In 215, they launched a sneak attack on the three eastern counties of Jingzhou, and after negotiation, the Xiang River was used as the boundary; in 219, they launched a sneak attack on the three western counties of Jingzhou and killed Guan Yu), one of the reasons why they were still able to form an alliance with Soochow.
Jingzhou is actually not that important to Shu Han.
Having said that, after the Wei State determined its national policy of imitating Liu Xiu and attacking Wu with all its strength, it established large-scale farming in Nanyang and Huainan, solved the problem of military supplies on the spot, and trained soldiers on the spot in preparation for the attack on Wu.
Deng Ai once wrote "Rihe Theory" for this purpose, hoping to strengthen the food supply of the Huainan region to the front line of Hefei through farming in preparation for the invasion of Wu.
The core areas of the Wei State were in Luoyang and Ye. Starting from these two areas, Wu was close and the road was smooth, while Shu was far and dangerous.
With such a basic plan, it is clear at a glance whether to defeat Wu or Shu.
Furthermore, when the Wei State conquered Shu, they not only had to travel thousands of miles to provide food and mobilize troops, but they also had to face the dangers of Qinchuan for 800 miles and the difficulties of the thousands-mile road to Shu.
Just thinking about these natural conditions that are difficult to overcome makes one’s scalp numb.
However, when the Wei State defeated Wu, it was very convenient to distribute food nearby. Even if it failed to defeat Wu, it would not be a big deal.
Just try again next time.
Therefore, Wei's national policy has always been to prioritize the attack on Wu, and had no intention of attacking Shu first. Until...
There is no need to be too guarded against Soochow.
Until Jiang Wei made a life-and-death bet.
The fact that the Wei State did not dare to launch a large-scale war to destroy Shu was closely related to the fact that Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei dared to conduct several Northern Expeditions. This was largely due to the fact that the State of Wu and the Monan Kebineng tribe contained most of the energy of the Wei State.
.
The border between Wei and Wu is long and surrounded by enemies. Wei has always maintained a military strength of about 200,000,000 in Jingzhou and the Huainan battlefield, and has also deployed a considerable number of troops in Yanmen, Taiyuan, Daijun, and Yecheng (
Not less than 100,000), used to guard against Kirby Neng and Gongsun Yuan of Liaodong.
In addition, the Wei State also needs to maintain more than 100,000 Chinese troops in Luoyang as a preparation. Therefore, the number of troops that the Wei State can use to fight Shu is theoretically only 200,000 (including the 100,000 Chinese troops in Luoyang, Zhuge Liang is the first
During the Second Northern Expedition, Cao Rui personally led an army of 100,000 troops to Chang'an to take control), but at ordinary times there were only about 100,000 troops. Compared with the Shu Kingdom, which had hundreds of thousands of troops, it did not have an absolute advantage.
But as time went by, the situation changed.
After Kebineng and Gongsun Yuan were defeated one after another, the 100,000 troops and horses deployed by the Wei State in the north were freed up and pressed to the western front.
After the three rebellions in Huainan were unsuccessful, the Wei State understood: there is no need to worry about the Wu State anymore!
During the third rebellion in Huainan, the Wu army took the opportunity to arrive in the Shouchun area and cooperated with the rebels to fight against the Sima family.
However, under such favorable conditions, Wu State still could not control the situation and quickly fled.
This war told the Wei State (Sima family): Never have to worry about the Wu State again. Even if the Wu army enters Shouchun, so what?
Can you stop the Wei cavalry from charging?
Can it be stopped?
It can't be stopped at all!
So, why are so many troops deployed on the Eastern Front?
If these troops (about 300,000) were deployed on the western front, would the weak Shu Kingdom be able to stop them?
Wei's national policy changed quietly.
If the Shu Kingdom has an opportunity to take advantage of it, then allocating forces to conquer Shu is a choice that does not require hesitation.
By coincidence, Jiang Wei, the general of the Shu Kingdom, started the gambling game at this time and was waiting for the Wei Kingdom to participate.
