Although the world claims to be dominated by three pillars, it is actually dominated by four parties.
The Gongsun family in Liaodong has existed for three generations since Gongsun Du's separatist rule. It has always been an independent political power. Even when Wei Wu and Cao Cao were alive, they only allowed the Gongsun family to submit superficially and could not interfere in the affairs of Liaodong.
For example, when Gongsun Yuan usurped his uncle's position, Cao Rui of Luoyang still had to hold his nose and ignore etiquette, telling the world to recognize Gongsun Yuan as the lord of Liaodong.
Any monarch has the intention of conquering such separatist forces that despise authority.
However, with the powerful enemies of Bashu and Soochow on the side, Cao Wei did not need to use troops against the Gongsun clan of Liaodong who appeared to be surrendered, so he tolerated it until now.
Nowadays, Liaodong is frequently connected with Soochow, which makes Cao Wei feel like a stick in his throat and makes him unhappy.
Selling horses and being granted a title in Soochow is no longer a level that despises the authority of Wei.
The Wei State could not tolerate that its opponents had become stronger and more difficult to destroy because of Liaodong, so they finally made the determination to send troops to destroy them.
The deeper reason is Cao Rui's temperament.
It has been nearly ten years since Cao Rui took the throne. Not only did he not have any achievements praised by the courtiers and Li Shu, but he also had many secret criticisms.
For example, in the Wei Dynasty, Cao Cao spent all his wealth to recruit troops and slaves for more than thirty years, creating a huge foundation and consolidating the foundation of Cao Wei and the Han Dynasty. In the short few years since Wei Wen and Cao Pi reigned, he still relied on his strong national power to conquer Soochow three times. Although there was no victory, there was no such defeat as losing a large number of soldiers and losing territory.
But what about Cao Rui himself?
As soon as he succeeded to the throne, he was attacked successively by Bashu and Soochow. He fought almost every day and lost countless soldiers and territory.
Even the powerful families who have made countless profits are unwilling to endorse and rectify the name of the Wei Dynasty, which is the destiny of Han Dynasty.
There are no heirs left, and the reputation still needs to be carried by a mediocre master?
Can't even defend Chengdu?
Cao Rui couldn't accept this result.
At this moment, Liaodong jumped out to provoke him, which gave him the idea of "losing the east corner and gaining the mulberry elm".
Furthermore, if the Gongsun clan is destroyed as expected, it can also deter other people who have different ideas.
Liaodong has been peacefully recuperating for many years since Gongsundu's separatist rule. It is densely populated, which can just make up for the loss of Longyou's war heritage, so that Cao Rui will not be ashamed of the foundation accumulated by Cao Cao and Cao Pi.
In fact, Cao Rui had discussed the proposal of conquering Liaodong in private with his confidants very early on.
This person is Guanqiu Jian.
Wenxi was born in Hedong, and his father was Guanqiu Xing, the former governor of Wuwei. He worked with Zhang Ji, the governor of Liangzhou, to quell rebellions many times and subdued the Qiang and Hu. He was an important minister of Cao Wei. Therefore, Guanqiu Jian was appointed as the "literary minister" by Wei Wen Cao Pi. ", he accompanied Cao Rui to study and cultivate virtue together with Wei Zhen and others, and he was a minister of Qiandi.
He loves literature very much, has a strategy in mind, and does not want to enjoy the dignity of being in the court.
The post of governor of Jingzhou that he holds now was something he personally requested from Cao Rui because he wanted to conquer the unconquered ministers for the Wei state.
When he asked Cao Rui whether he could conquer Liaodong, he not only agreed with it, but also added, "Your Majesty has nothing to write about since he came to the throne."
With his posthumous reputation as a master of martial arts, Cao Rui no longer hesitated.
Therefore, when Sima Yi secretly led an army of 40,000 from Youbeiping, Guanqiu Jian served as the imperial envoy and took more than a thousand imperial guards to Liaodong, where he rewarded Gongsun Yuan who had killed the envoy from Soochow.
These more than a thousand imperial guards are the key to whether Sima Yi's subsequent army can win.
This is related to Gongsun Yuan's strength, the terrain and climate of Liaodong.
Although the Liaodong separatist regime has lasted for three generations, its strength is still weak compared with that of Wei. However, Liaodong is more than four thousand (Han) miles away from Luoyang. If Wei wants to conquer, the long journey and supply line are Wei's opponents.
And there are only two routes.
The first is to take the sea route from Qingzhou.
The road was very short, and the wind and waves were very small. During the reign of Emperor Ling, countless scholars and common people from Qingzhou were sent to Liaodong by sea to escape the war.
But landing on the beach is difficult to achieve.
Liaodong's navy was no worse than Wei's.
A large-scale fleet approached Liaodong, Gongsun Yuan fortified the coast, and then attacked with naval forces. Wei's attempt to land on the beach had little chance of victory.
The other is to take the Banhai Road of the Youzhou-Liaoxi Corridor.
As the name suggests, Haikaido is a road that walks along the sea.
This road is also difficult to walk, mainly due to climate problems.
For example, when Cao Cao of the Wei Dynasty chased Karasuma to Liucheng, he originally planned to cross the Banhai Road in July, but in the rainy season the road was muddy and impassable.
We can only take the endless road across Yanshan Mountain and reach Bailang Mountain in August.
And when we returned to the army, it was the middle of winter. Not only was it freezing cold, but there was also no water or food.
In the end, they had to kill horses for food and dig in the ground to get water to tide over the difficulties. Guo Jia, who was accompanying the army, also fell ill and died.
Sima Yi learned this lesson this time. He set out from Youbeiping in March of spring and arrived at Liaoshui (the dividing line between Cao Wei and Gongsun) just before June. This way he could avoid the rainy season in autumn and be able to fight after the war.
Avoid the harsh winter and return to school.
He was confident that he could defeat Gongsun Yuan within a hundred days.
This is not because Sima Yi is arrogant.
But Gongsun Yuan had four counties under his rule, namely Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang and Daifang counties. In terms of strength, they could not resist Cao Wei no matter what.
His only chance of winning is to detect the Wei army's attack in time and have enough time to abandon Liaodong and Xuantu counties and go to Lelang and Daifang counties (Korean Peninsula) to avoid the battle. This will make the Wei army's supply line longer and delay it.
As winter approached, the cold weather reduced the Wei army's combat effectiveness and made them unable to continue attacking.
After all, with Bashu and Soochow watching from the side, Sima Yi could not stay in Liaodong forever.
Once winter arrived, without him having to make a decision, Cao Rui of Luoyang issued an edict to withdraw his troops.
If Gongsun Yuan planned to hold on to Xiangping (the administrative center), or rely on the dividing line between the two sides to set up defenses on the Liao River, and rely on the Liao Tunnel to keep the enemy out of the country, it would be equivalent to waiting for destruction.
Of course, in Sima Yi's inference to Cao Rui, he believed that Gongsun Yuan was a guard dog and could not abandon Liaodong and Xuantu County.
He felt that Gongsun Yuan was reluctant to part with him.
In other words, no matter who it is, they will not give it up.
The population and resources of Liaodong and Xuantu counties are much richer than those of Lelang and Daifang counties.
If Gongsun Yuan gave up, he would lose the support of local scholars and his own foundation.
Therefore, the important town of Liao Suicheng on the Liao River, the dividing line between the two sides, became the decisive point of this expedition.
If Gongsun Yuan could defend Liao Sui City, Sima Yi would have nothing to do; but if Sima Yi captured Liao Sui City, Gongsun Yuan, who was trapped in Xiangping City, would become a disadvantage.
This is the reason why Cao Rui asked Guanqiu Jian to go with more than a thousand imperial guards.
Guanqiu Jian took the sea route.
There are dozens of ships, all of which are large transport ships.
With these ships present, if Sima Yi could not attack Liao Sui City, he would resort to a dangerous strategy and transport troops from the Liao River to bypass Liao Sui City, kill Xiangping City, and go straight to Huanglong.
Anyway, the ships used for transportation have no combat capability.
As long as he claimed that these ships were sent by dignitaries from Luoyang of Wei State to purchase rare items from Liaodong, Gongsun Yuan would not be alarmed.
This kind of scheduling really comes into use.
When Guan Qiujian led his fleet to Liaodong County, and then walked along the Liao River to Liao Suicheng, he found that the city was indestructible.
Previously, when Gongsun Yuan sent people to ask Sun Wu for a reward, he was well prepared for the Wei army to attack.
The location of Liao Sui City is in the central continent before the confluence of the Daliao River and Xiao Liao River. It was originally an easy-to-defend but difficult-to-attack place. And now the defenders are still outside Liao Sui City, digging more than 40 people (Han) The trenches inside were filled with water and became an "island within an island".
With such a geographical advantage, coupled with the fact that the defender Bei Yan was very popular with the army and had more than 8,000 troops, it was impossible for the Wei army to break through.
Even if all the soldiers die, it will take several months or even a year to break through.
The Wei army did not have such sufficient time.
Therefore, when Guanqiu Jian arrived at Liaosuicheng, he privately sent someone to inform Sima Yi who was on his way, and then pretended that he was ill due to the acclimatization. He entrusted the guard general Bei Yan to send the edict, which had long been stamped with the emperor's seal. He was sent to Gongsun Yuan in Xiangping City.
Moreover, the more than a thousand soldiers who accompanied him were camped outside the city to avoid the suspicion of deliberately staying in the city and plotting evil intentions.
It also made Beiyan doubtless that he was there.
The main reason is that at this juncture, no one would have thought that Cao Wei would send troops to attack.
Moreover, Wei Guo did a very good job of covering up the appearance.
Cao Rui's edict granted Gongsun Yuan the title of Duke of Yan, and also rewarded him with many forbidden items.
When Guanqiu Jian was ill and lying in bed, he handed the list of items to Bei Yan who came to visit him, and sincerely asked him to help him collect rare items that the powerful people in Luoyang wanted to buy.
Even the remuneration has been paid in advance.
In this situation, who would suspect anything else?
Unexpectedly, Sima Yi's army marched in smoothly.
The vanguard general Niu Jin led the front and fought directly to the bottom of the city before Bei Yan reacted.
While lighting beacon fire as a warning, they organized soldiers to resist.
But it's still too late.
With the support of more than a thousand soldiers from Guanqiu Jian, Niu Jin led the army to capture all the military camps outside Liao Suicheng.
Fortunately, Beiyan was quite decisive.
Seeing that the garrison surrounding the city could not resist, he immediately cut it off. Regardless of the fact that many of his own soldiers had not yet entered the city, he ordered the city gate to be closed.
This avoided the Wei army's plan to follow the defeated troops and rush into the city.
The cost is that the strength of the troops is reduced by 45%.
However, for the Liaodong Army, failure in the war is not terrible.
As long as Liao Sui City is not lost, they can defend the city and rely on the strong city defense and sufficient food and ordnance with more than 4,000 troops to delay the Wei army here for two or three months.
After gaining these few months, Gongsun Yuan of Xiangping City can be prepared to hold on.
Such as destroying houses, moving the common people to clear the countryside, etc.
As long as the Wei army that had crossed the Liao River could not resupply on the spot and had no houses to protect them from rain and snow, they would automatically retreat in winter.
But Sima Yi did not attack the city by force.
After the rear army arrived, they didn't waste a moment, took a boat across the Liao River, and headed straight for Xiangping City.
As for taking a detour, will the soldiers and horses in Liao Sui City cut off the back road and cut off the food route?
No need to worry.
He assigned 3,000 soldiers to Guanqiu Jian, and asked him to join 4,000 soldiers and stay outside Liao Sui City to monitor.
Moreover, Sima Yi also played the game of burning the cauldron.
After crossing the Liao River, he ordered all the ships to be dug through the river and sunk.
The crowd gathered together and swore an oath, saying: "If the traitor Gongsun Yuan is not destroyed, we will all die in Liaodong! My dear gentlemen, we have traveled thousands of miles to come here, and there is no way out! We have achieved great success and fame today, so we must fight to the death!"
He also made all the officers and soldiers of the Wei army shout to fight to the death, and their morale was as high as a rainbow.
As for Gongsun Yuan, the seeds of failure were sown because of the unequal military situation he learned about.
At first, Bei Yan, the confidant who was guarding Sui City in Liao, sent someone to deliver Cao Rui's edict. He was very happy, and they had a banquet that night. He did not expect that there was any change in the Wei army, nor did he gather his soldiers.
On the contrary, he also sent many military officials to other places to buy items for the powerful people in Luoyang, Wei State!
When Bei Yan sent people to Liao Sui City and was attacked, he was shocked and turned pale. In anger, he even made a stupid move.
He handed over half of Xiangping City's troops and more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry to another trusted general, Yang Zuo, and rushed to support Liao Sui City.
Among the more than 10,000 cavalry, there are about 5,000 cavalry. They are the old tribe and Karasuma people who followed the Yuan Shang brothers to escape into Liaodong.
These five thousand cavalry sounded the clarion call that the situation in Liaodong was over.
When Yang Zuo led them in a hurry, they happened to bump into Sima Yi's headquarters who had crossed the Liao River. The strength of the two sides was not equal, and the morale of the Wei army was high, making it inevitable for Yang Zuo to defeat them.
Coincidentally, among the soldiers and horses that Sima Yi came to Liaodong, there were the Wuwan Tuqi from the former Wei Dynasty and Cao Cao who migrated to Jizhou.
When the Wei army defeated Yang Zuo, they surrendered with the name of the same clan, causing all the five thousand cavalry to defect on the spot. Anyway, the Gongsun family killed their old master Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi's enemy, and annexed them. He was never polite to them, and there was no psychological pressure for him to switch sides in the face of battle.
Even the general Yang Zuo surrendered when he saw that the situation was hopeless.
The rest is simple.
The Wei army, which had taken the captives, marched all the way to Xiangping City without encountering any resistance.
At this time, Gongsun Yuan had not recruited many troops from other counties!
Feeling that he could not resist and that the situation was over, he sent an envoy to beg Sima Yi for surrender, claiming that he was willing to send his son Gongsun Xiu to Luoyang as a hostage, and to allow the Wei army to garrison Liao Suicheng, and to have Luoyang appoint the officials and assistants of the four counties in Liaodong.
But how could Sima Yi, who had traveled thousands of miles, allow him to surrender?
Even the envoy was not in the mood to see him, so he ordered his head to be beheaded and asked to be taken back by the deputy envoy.
Then he ordered the soldiers from all ministries to surround the city and build mounds, build siege towers and set up thunder chariots in preparation for attacking the city.
Such behavior caused chaos among the soldiers in the city.
When Gongsun Yuan saw the envoy's head, he knew that Sima Yi planned to exterminate his own clan, and also knew that he could not defend the city with the small number of troops in the city.
In other words, he was worried that after a few days, his subordinates would chop off his head and surrender.
Therefore, while the Wei army was not completely besieging the city, he and his son Gongsun Xiu, escorted by hundreds of personal cavalry, fought their way out of the south city gate and fled to Lelang County.
It was a pity that Sima Yi sent his cavalry to catch up and kill him halfway.
The Gongsun family in Liaodong, which had been divided and dominated for decades, was wiped out.