Emperor Wei Cao Rui left Sikong Chenqun to guard Kyoto and personally led 20,000 imperial troops to the battlefield in Huainan.
Among them, Guanqiu Jian, who resigned as the governor of Jingzhou and became the governor of Yuzhou due to the Liaodong War, had already supervised other troops and rushed to Lu'an County three days ago to jointly resist the Quan Cong tribe of Soochow with Tian Yu, the prefect of Runan.
The reason why Cao Rui decided to go on a personal expedition was not only because he wanted to imitate Wei Cao Cao's martial arts in whipping Yu Nei, but also because the Wei army won on the battlefield but failed in planning.
The victory on the battlefield was due to Man Chong ambushing Sun Quan's main force.
However, it is said that after Sun Quan led his army into the Nanfei River, he saw that the city of Hefei was thirty miles away, so he hesitated for more than twenty days, without making a decision whether to go ashore and attack the city.
But this battle was, after all, his first personal expedition after becoming emperor.
If you continue to stand still and hesitate to move forward, it will be a heavy blow to both the morale of the army and your personal prestige.
Therefore, he still chose to lead the troops ashore.
We plan to slowly advance to the gates of Hefei City, show off our power, and then withdraw.
It was a pity that Man Chong had expected that he would have such a mentality and had previously ambushed 6,000 horsemen in a hidden place outside the city.
When Sun Quan led his army to arrive, he suddenly charged out with overwhelming force. He beheaded hundreds of people before the battle, and trampled on each other to death.
Fortunately, Jiangdong now also has a full-fledged cavalry force.
A few years ago, Zhuge Ke went on an envoy to the Han Dynasty and returned with two thousand horses from trade.
It also gave Sun Quan 1,500 personal guards and cavalry.
When Zhang Ying, the Hefei garrison under Man Chong, led an ambush of 6,000 troops and charged in, Sun Quan, who was in the rear, sent his bodyguard cavalry forward against the battle, barely able to stabilize his position.
After all, the Wei army was outnumbered, and when they saw that they could no longer drive back the defeated troops to cover up the enemy, they retreated to the city.
However, their goal was achieved.
Wu Jun was defeated for a while as soon as he landed ashore, and his morale was inevitably sluggish. He had no choice but to return to the ship to rest.
Sun Quan was also heartbroken.
War horses are extremely expensive, and cavalry cannot be trained overnight.
His well-trained bodyguard cavalry, in order to prevent the entire army from being overrun by Wei, lost more than 400 cavalry in this battle.
Therefore, after returning to the ship, he once again fell into the battle between heaven and man.
He had thoughts of retreating.
But when he remembered that in the book of the Han Dynasty, Prime Minister Zhuge mentioned implicitly "Don't start with a start but end with a tail", he was unwilling to accept it. Although Han and Wu were allies, they never stopped comparing themselves. He did not want Jiangdong to be inferior to Bashu in the future. .
Coincidentally, at this time, good news came from Pianshi Quan Cong.
Quan Cong was attacking Liu'an County, a county under the control of Lujiang under Wei Dynasty.
The route was that after the navy entered Chaohu Lake, they turned westward and entered Longshu River from Shukou; then they abandoned the boat and landed, and traveled about two hundred miles before reaching the gate of Liu'an City.
Jiangdong also used troops on this route.
More than 20 years ago, Sun Quan led his army to Shukou, preparing to meet Chen Lan and Meicheng who rebelled against Wei.
However, the rescue was not successful, and instead they were attacked by Zang Ba, and they returned in a disastrous defeat.
With such a past, Jiangdong sent troops and never followed this route again. The Wei State also did not pay attention to it, and the defense of Lu'an County, which was not close to the water, was even more lax.
Therefore, it was defeated by Quan Cong's partial army in one fell swoop.
After the Wu army burned the city of Lu'an, they captured more than a thousand prisoners of the Wei army and more than 2,000 Li people and returned home.
Moreover, good news also came from the Liaodong battlefield.
Of course!
The main force led by Sun Quan was said to be 100,000, but after the Quan Cong tribe was separated, only 50,000 infantry and cavalry were left.
Because before sending out the army, he accepted the advice of his concubine Yang Xi (a native of Nanyang, not Yang Hu's father), and sent the former general Zhu Huan as a separate unit, and the two generals Sun Yi and Zheng Zhou led more than 10,000 people to march to Liaodong.
Yang Chen believed that after the fall of the Gongsun clan in Liaodong, the main force of the Wei state would inevitably retreat.
Moreover, at the time when the Wei State was launching a large-scale attack on Longyou, and our own side was attacking Wei in three directions, it was even less likely that there would be many troops to defend Liaodong.
This is a good opportunity for a surprise attack.
Sun Quan, who was already distraught over the massive loss of troops in Liaodong, was very happy when he heard about this plan and immediately put it into action.
Also gained a lot.
The generals of Wei who stayed on the coast of Liaodong had no idea that Soochow would come across the sea to rob them at this time.
Caught off guard, Zhu Huan stormed in from the Liao River with overwhelming force, almost repeating Sima Yi's victory over Xiangping City.
Not only did they capture countless ships of the Wei Kingdom's Liaodong Navy, they also took the opportunity to seize countless property and baggage, more than a thousand war horses and more than 30,000 people returned. It was considered that the losses in Liaodong that year were recovered with profits.
With these two good news, Sun Quan suddenly felt that defeat at the hands of Hefei was not too hard to accept.
He is also high-spirited again.
He continued to stay in Nanfeishui, threatening Wei's Hefei New City.
Zhu Ran's headquarters was also separated, and his troops were transferred to join another partial division - Sun Shao and Zhang Cheng's troops who entered Guangling County via the Zhongxiaodushui Canal, and merged into the Huaihe River Basin to plunder.
The battlefield was transferred from Yangzhou to Xuzhou.
Even Qingzhou.
After Zhu Huan's troops returned to Jiangdong with a full load, they set sail again and searched for gaps in Qingzhou's defenses along the coast.
In other words, under the dazzling achievements of the two generals Quan Cong and Zhu Huan, Sun Quan finally let go of his obsession with the city of Hefei, and finally understood the essence of war of "using one's own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses."
He began to rely on the elite of the navy to plunder people and assets everywhere.
After hearing the news, Man Chong, who was in charge of the war, went to Luoyang to state the military situation. He left Zhang Ying to guard Hefei City and led his troops to Huaiyin County in Xuzhou to resist.
This is the reason why Cao Rui made up his mind to fight in person.
Not many years have passed since the Battle of Shiting in which Qing, Xu and Yang suffered heavy losses.
Whether he was a sergeant or a common man, his memory was still fresh in his mind.
The Wei State's troops deployed on the southeastern front were not many in the first place. Now that Jiangdong is being plundered from all directions, only his personal expedition can stabilize the morale of the military and the people.
Different from the past, this time Luoyang's reinforcements no longer sneaked lightly in an attempt to suddenly attack and block the Wu army.
Cao Rui accepted the suggestion of Liu Shao, the regular servant of the Sanqi, and took Qin Lang, who had just returned from Bingzhou, as the former governor. He led 5,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry, prepared many drums and drums along the way, and came to Hefei New City with great fanfare.
Moreover, the cavalry was asked to detour directly behind the Wu army and cut off their food routes.
In order to defeat the enemy without fighting and force the Wu army to retreat - after supporting the great Sima Cao Zhen's troops in Longyou, Cao Rui did not want to get into a long-term war with Wu.
As for whether Sun Quan will see through the truth and fight to the death without retreating.
It's not very likely.
First of all, the Wu army came to fight this time and has already gained a lot of benefits.
From the last battle of Shiting, it can be inferred that the offensive of Soochow soldiers cannot last long.
Once they gain a victory, they will worry that if they continue to fight, they will turn victory into defeat.
Therefore, if Sun Quan learned that Cao Rui was personally leading the army and that the two sides were evenly matched or that his own side was at a disadvantage, he would take the initiative to retreat.
On the other hand, it has been several months since Soochow sent troops.
Not to mention the fact that the common people in Li had to do the corvee work of transporting grain, fodder, and baggage, the soldiers would gradually lose their vigor after being on an expedition for a long time and were in urgent need of rest and recuperation.
With Jiangdong's war history, Sun Quan did not dare to fight Wei's Luoyang elite with exhausted troops.
And if Sun Quan retreats, Lu Xun's troops who are threatening Xiangyang City in Jingzhou will also retreat.
The war on Wei's eastern and southern fronts will cease.
Well, the war in Jingzhou is tepid.
The troops under the command of Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin amounted to no more than 10,000 men, so they were meant to provide support.
When Sima Yi had already rushed back to Wancheng and dispatched troops and horses to defend the various counties, the Wu army could not take advantage.
Yongzhou Anding County, Gaoping City.
Zhao Yan, the military advisor of the Wei Dynasty, held the crenellations of the city wall and looked at the military camp outside the city.
Originally there were more than 100,000 troops gathered there, but now only more than a thousand people are left to protect the camp.
Cao Zhen has already supervised the various ministries and marched towards Longyou one after another.
The troops advanced in three directions.
Xia Houru, who was promoted to former general due to the Battle of Pingcheng in Yanmen County, was appointed by Cao Zhen as the former governor as soon as he came from Luoyang and led 50,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Zuli County.
The person with the same responsibility as him was Guo Huai, who led more than ten thousand soldiers from Jincheng County.
With the current situation, it is impossible for the Han army to attack Jincheng County.
Therefore, Guo Huai, who had always been highly regarded by Cao Zhen, was naturally transferred to assist in the battle.
The former generals Wei Yan and Yuanxun Guan Xing guarded the city before revolting against Shu, which meant that the opponent would never surrender even if they fought to the last soldier.
But for the Wei State, Zulicheng, the hub connecting Hexi and Longyou, must be captured no matter what.
Therefore, Cao Zhen asked Xia Houru and Guo Huai, the two generals who knew Liangzhou best and hated Shu the most, to join forces and attack day and night at all costs to capture it!
The other army was led by the rear general Fei Yao.
Three generals, Hu Zun, Xia Houba, and Xu Gai (son of Xu Huang), led by 30,000 troops, came to attack Ni Shu's other camp stationed on the tributary of Changli River. Scar Pu and the rebel general Jiang Weibu were assisted by them.
Three thousand Han cavalry commanded by Zhang Xiong (son of Zhang He) and six thousand Hu cavalry commanded by Liu Bao, the Zuoxian King of the Southern Huns.
These cavalry will cruise between Pingxiang City and Ayang City in Longyou.
Intercepting Nishu Gaoxiang and Wu Banbu's troops to rescue the Changlishui branch camp, and alerting Nishu Ma Dai and Zhao Guang's two cavalry movements.
On the last road, there were 20,000 people led by Cao Zhen himself.
Instead, they set up camp more than 20 miles in front of Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, to prevent him from attacking the food roads of various troops.
With 20,000 troops facing off against Prime Minister Zhuge's 40,000 troops, it seemed that Cao Zhen was overconfident.
In fact, he was confident.
In other words, Cao Zhen was trying to lure the prime minister into war.
Prime Minister Zhuge's camp is located along the hills of the Wushui tributary valley, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
If Cao Zhen attacked it with a large army, it would be difficult for him to achieve success.
Therefore, he chose his camp in an open area, which put the prime minister in a dilemma.
If the prime minister gives up the geographical advantage and goes out to attack his military camp, the retreat route back to the river valley will be cut off - Zhao Yan, who stayed in Gaoping City, still controls more than 20,000 rear troops; and Zhang Xiong and Liu Bao's cavalry are rushing here to help.
, it only takes two days.
In just two days, the prime minister, who had the advantage in military strength, could not capture Cao Zhen's camp.
But if the prime minister still stood firm, Cao Zhen would be able to contain the main force of Ni Shu with only 20,000 soldiers, making Ni Shu, who was already outnumbered, even more stretched in terms of dispatch.
For example, it is impossible for Bashu to have reinforcements to guard the garrison in each county.
And this is a conspiracy.
Cao Zhen relied on Wei's strong war heritage and made decisions based on local conditions, which is basically unexplainable.
As for the Guanyin Fortress, Cao Zhen asked Wei Ping, the governor of Hexi Province, to make up for it.
In other words, when the Wei army entered Longyou in large numbers, the Forbidden City in Hexi became irrelevant.
If Xia Houru and Guo Huai could capture Zuli City, the Anyin Fortress would be reduced to an isolated city. The Wei army would only need to send troops to camp on Hanpingchuan, and then wait for the Han army in the fortress to run out of food and then destroy itself.
But Wei Ping still led the army to attack.
On the one hand, the penis plug was taken away under his nose.
If he didn't take it back, he would feel ashamed of his true trust in Luoyang Temple and Grand Sima Cao, and he would also feel unable to face his own heart.
He is also older.
I already bear the regret of losing Xiao Guan, and I don’t want to die with the regret of losing Gu Yinsai again.
Another reason is that we can't afford to waste time.
Given the situation in the Hexi Corridor, Wei will not be allowed to lose Eun Yin Sai for too long.
Without the profits from the Silk Road trade, the Qiang and Hu tribes would have the desire to betray Wei due to the delay of time.
Similarly, after the implementation of the policy of "people on the border governing the border", the governors and powerful rightists of various counties in Hexi expanded their private armies or recruited disciples in order to consolidate their power; the consumption of military resources and the money and food to settle the family members of the private army were huge.
Part of it was relying on profits from the Silk Road.
They can't afford to wait either.
Ganyinsai is a small town without common people.
The grain reserves have always been enough for at least a year, or even longer.
They didn't know whether the Han army would run out of food after a year; but they knew that their reserves of food and property would definitely not last for a year.
Due to the ambition of separatism, it is impossible for them to disband the private army.
The only way is to tear up Wei's tacit understanding of condoning their power and stop supplying food, fodder and supplies to Wei's soldiers garrisoned in the Hexi Corridor.
However, if they lose the authority and protection of the Wei State, they will also be coveted by others.
Those careerists who have not benefited from the "man on edge" policy will unite to overthrow them and rewrite the rules.
Therefore, due to the consequences that both parties tried their best to avoid, Wei Ping led an army of 40,000 to come.
There were no more than five thousand soldiers affiliated with the Wei State, and the rest were composed of the prefects of the four counties in Hexi, the private military tribes of Haoyou in the townships, and the profitable Qianghu tribesmen.
However, the Han army guarding the Fortress of Manyin was not afraid.
Regardless of whether it is the Xiaozhi Army led by Liu Yin or the Yan Yu tribe that was separated from the later general Yuan Wei, they are all veteran troops that have been on the battlefield for a long time.
No matter how many Wei troops come, they will be limited by the terrain of the Fortress of Manyin.
The attack side of the fortress could only accommodate three to four hundred soldiers shoulder to shoulder!
Even if the river freezes after winter sets in, allowing the city to be attacked by an extra side, it still cannot accommodate a thousand people to attack.
After all, it was Jiang Wei who captured the fortress in the previous night attack, so the Han army could not have forgotten to make up for it before it was too late.
Liu Yin, who was leading the military governor and a general with miscellaneous numbers, stood on the city wall and looked at the enemy situation. When he saw the Wei army coming in thick waves, he couldn't help but clasped his hands and laughed. He said to Zhang Bao beside him: "I feel a sigh.
, I always fight at the wrong time, and it is difficult to find military achievements of any size throughout the year. I didn’t expect it, but now it comes unexpectedly!”
