"Commander Chen Qun, tell me, how should we deal with the Sichuan army?" Cao Cao asked slowly, without any urgency in his tone, as if Cao Cao's army was not in any danger.
"This..." Chen Qun is a political person and doesn't know how to play military affairs, so how can he come up with any countermeasures.
"What about you?" Cao Cao opened his eyes and scanned the other officers and generals.
"Fight with Sichuan Barbarian." Xia Houyuan looked at the silence in the palace and finally couldn't help shouting loudly.
"Do you also agree to fight like this?" Cao Cao looked at the officials. Of course the officials did not dare to imitate Xia Houyuan and fight with the Sichuan army like this. It is not their character to risk death.
But at this time, they couldn't come up with any ideas, almost at the same time, so the official's eyes fell on Sima Yi, hoping that he could come up with an idea.
"Zhongda, you are very resourceful. Now is our army's critical moment. Do you have any strategies?" Cao Cao stared at Sima Yi.
Originally Sima Yi bore all the gazes without changing his expression, his face was lifeless as if he were dead, but Cao Cao's eyes fell and Sima Yi frowned.
This is different from Cao Cao's previous glaring feeling. It is not a deterrent, but has a strong oppressive force, just like...Cao Cao is clearly looking directly at him, but Sima Yi seems to have a feeling of being peeped. This feeling
Let Sima Yi summon all his mental strength and try to wake himself up.
After being stunned for a long time, Sima Yi stood up and saluted Cao Cao as usual, raised his head and said: "My lord, there is no other way now, only one word, retreat.
Bingzhou faced the 100,000-strong Sichuan army in Xiahetao. Although Cao Zhang had 100,000 troops, Wu Jun's military advisor Zhou Ce and his general Feng Ziyin led 10,000 troops. However, this force could not stop the Sichuan army's attack. If they resisted forcefully, the entire army would be annihilated.
But although there is no danger to defend in Bingzhou, the Taihang Mountains stretch out and are full of dangerous obstacles and dangerous passes. If we withdraw the troops in Bingzhou and deploy them on the front line of the Taihang Mountains, no matter how strong the Sichuan army is, it will be difficult for them to fly over."
"Mr. Zhongda." Wu Zhi, an official of the clan, came out from his place and questioned: "Although the Taihang Mountains are dangerous, once you leave the Taihang Mountains, the cavalry can reach Yecheng in one day. Isn't this too risky?
Wu Zhi is not as knowledgeable about military affairs as Mr. Zhongda, but he also knows a truth: there is no unbreakable barrier in the world. No matter how dangerous a barrier is, there is no guarantee that it will not be lost. How can we only deploy it less than two hundred miles away from Yecheng?
"
"Yeah, it's too dangerous."
"Too dangerous."
As soon as Wu Zhi finished speaking, other officials also showed worried looks. They all recalled Xuchang and the mass graves where families were massacred after Xuchang was captured by the Sichuan army.
Recalling Xuchang and thinking that the Sichuan army was less than two hundred miles away, the officials shuddered, and the generals who had entered Cao's camp for more than a year were also trembling with fear.
If Cao Jun could only guard the Taihang Mountains, would he still have a good night's sleep? Maybe he was sleeping soundly one night. Suddenly, a servant came to report that the Sichuan cavalry had entered Yecheng.
This is not unfounded worry, it is a completely possible fact. As long as the Sichuan army breaks through the Taihang Mountains, it can be easily achieved.
"Does Mr. Ji Zhong (Wu Zhi) have any other good ideas?" Sima Yi asked slowly. He and Wu Zhi were good friends. But there was no politeness in the question at this time.
In fact, even these noble families sometimes don't know what Sima Yi is thinking.
Wu Zhi stood there. He really had no good solution. Like Wu Zhi, there were a lot of discussions in the palace, but no one came out to speak. Xun Yu, Xun You and others did not speak. Cao Cao closed his eyes slightly again.
Suddenly, an official came out and bowed to Cao Cao: "My Lord, I suggest moving the capital."
"Move the capital?" "Move the capital?"
When everyone heard the officer's suggestion, they pondered at first, and then their eyes lit up. Many people immediately came out to agree. Chen Qun said: "My lord, what Mr. Wang said is reasonable. Didn't Mr. Zhongda also say it just now? We should retreat now.
, we should avoid the Sichuan army’s edge and temporarily move the capital.”
"No." Xun Yu couldn't help but stood up and said slightly angrily: "Now our Yanzhou exists in name only. The Sichuan army can do it at any time if they want to attack Xuzhou. We have almost no place south of the Yellow River, and now we are left with nothing."
Where else can we move the capital to Hebei next?"
What Xun Yu wanted to say in his heart was that we have already moved the capital once to Xuchang. If we move the capital again, what will be left? There is no morale among the people, no morale among the military, and even no dignity.
But when I say this, I feel as if I am claiming to be noble, and I am not convinced at all by these officials who are sanctimonious on the surface but actually snobbish on the inside, and may even be regarded as shrews.
Chen Qun saluted Xun Yu and said respectfully: "Master Xun, we cannot put the capital in danger no matter what. Maybe by moving the capital out of Yecheng, we will lose some people's morale and military morale, but that is a last resort. It is better than Yecheng then.
If the city was captured in one day, it would be better for us to just perish, right? What’s more.”
Chen Qun glanced at Mantangwu: "I believe that even if our army moves the capital, the morale of the military and the people will still be as solid as a rock and will never be shaken."
Everyone knew what Chen Qun meant. All the clans stood firmly with Cao Cao's army. They even tolerated the incorporation of family soldiers, so what could a move of the capital do? The clans would still unite around Cao Cao.
After Chen Qun finished speaking, there was immediately a chorus of agreement.
"Where do you plan to move the capital?" Xun You asked.
"Xindu." Chen Qun replied: "Xindu County, Anping County, was originally the administrative seat of Yecheng. It is the second largest city in Jizhou after Yecheng. There are dangers of giant deer outside. Even if the Sichuan army breaks through the Taihang Mountains, they will not be able to reach it.
Xindu.”
"I agree with Lord Chen's proposal." Wu Zhi stood up and said.
"I second the proposal."
"I second the proposal."
A large group of officials stood up. Cao Cao looked at everyone. It seemed that only Xun Yu, Xun You and Cheng Yu disagreed. There were also Zhang Liao, Xia Hou Yuan and other bloody veterans who disagreed. The others were already in line to second the proposal.
"Is this what you think?" Cao Cao asked.
"That's what I'm waiting for."
"It's inconvenient to go against everyone's request. In this case..."
"I object."
Before Cao Cao finished speaking, Sima Yi shouted loudly. Chen Qun, Wu Zhi and others were all surprised. Unexpectedly, Xun Yu and Xun You did not object, but Sima Yi did.
Sima Yi is the representative of all aristocratic families. Now that all the officials of the aristocratic families want to move their capitals, why does Sima Yi oppose it?
"Master Chen." Sima Yi turned to look at Chen Qun and said politely: "Master Chen took the initiative to move the capital. The reason is simply that Xindu is far away from the Taihang Mountains and Yecheng may be captured at any time. Sima Yi, please tell me, once Yecheng is lost, Xindu will be
Can you keep it?"
"This..." Chen Qun was speechless: "I told you, I don't know much about military affairs. But every letter is in danger of a giant deer..."
"Can a giant deer be considered dangerous?" Sima Yi suddenly burst into laughter, "Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand military affairs. If Ye City is destroyed, the giant deer will be a flat ground for the Sichuan army, and Xindu will only be able to support it for two or three days at most. How come?
Safety?"
Chen Qun's face was ashen. What made him angry was not only Sima Yi's attitude, but what was even more angry was that Sima Yi was obviously a representative of the family, but he treated him with this attitude.
Sima Yi ignored Chen Qun and said to Cao Cao: "My lord, you must not accept the idea of moving the capital. Although Yecheng is dangerous, it has the advantage of being dangerous. It is precisely because all the adults and generals know that they have no way out. They can only
Guard the Taihang Mountains.
As long as Taihang Mountain is breached, families and people will be destroyed.
As the saying goes, the king guards the gate. Only with this mentality can the soldiers at the front fight to the death. The generals will be extremely careful, and the officials at the rear can work conscientiously. Only then can food and grass reach the front line more fully.
If the capital is moved to Xindu and the soldiers, generals and officials do not have such a strong sense of crisis, then the Taihang Mountains will be breached. Once the Taihang Mountains are breached, not to mention Xindu, the whole of Hebei will not be able to be saved.
Therefore, Sima Yi firmly opposed moving the capital and asked his lord to order General Cao Zhang to retreat to the Taihang Mountains. A hundred thousand troops guarded the dangerous fortresses of the Taihang Mountains. As long as they were not careless, no matter how strong the Sichuan army was, it would be difficult to break through.
Moreover, Yecheng is so close to the Taihang Mountains, so it is convenient to support the front line at any time, and food and grass can be delivered in time. It can be said that with Yecheng as the capital and the Taihang Mountains as the front line, we still have many advantages.
Wei Chen suggested that Taihang Mountain should be defended in echelons, with three echelons of defense. If the first layer is breached, the second layer should be defended, and at the same time the first layer should be counterattacked. This way, it can be defended for a long time."
Cao Cao nodded slightly and said to other martial arts: "Do you still have any opinions?"
The officials were silent. Although Chen Qun and others were angry at Sima Yi, they had no reason to refute.
"Besides that." Sima Yi continued: "There is another important thing. Now the foundation of the Xianbei people and the Wuhuan people has been destroyed, and their retreat has been blocked by the Di army. They cannot return home, and their food and grass are cut off, and they are in a dead end.
The Lord must support the Xianbei Army and the Wuhuan Army, otherwise the Sichuan Army will attack from Bingzhou to the north and from the grassland to the south. We will have no defense. Only by supporting the Xianbei Army and the Wuhuan Army, based on their hundreds of thousands of troops, can we hold on to the north.
One line.”
"What Zhongda means is to use our food and grass to feed foreigners?" Cao Cao asked.
"No, it's to raise reinforcements." Sima Yi replied.
"No." Xun Yu immediately stepped out and said: "If this is the case, we are nourishing the foreign army. How is this different from traitors?"
"Yes, I, Xia Houyuan, will be the first to refuse to use our food to feed those foreigners." Xia Houyuan said loudly. Tian Yu, Zhang Liao and others were silent, but they obviously had the same idea as Xia Houyuan.
"How can this be considered a traitor?" Chen Qun heard what Sima Yi meant at this time. Only then did he know that the Sichuan army could not only break through from the Taihang Mountains, but also from the north. The sense of crisis suddenly rose, and he had no time to blame Sima Yi, so he stood up and said loudly:
“Didn’t we also invite foreign troops to fight in the Hetao battle?
Asking for help at the beginning and giving some food to those foreigners now were both expedient measures. The Sichuan barbarians were very violent, killing tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of civilians at every turn. How did they compare to the foreigners?
Liu Zhang and the Sichuan barbarians caused more disaster than the foreigners.
What's more, Liu Zhang himself also used foreigners. He had tens of thousands of Qiang soldiers and barbarians under his command. They were the vanguard at any time. Didn't Liu Zhang give them food? Two of the five tiger generals were foreigners. So what can we say?
We are giving those foreigners some food now just to use their strength to fight against the more brutal Sichuan army. When our army becomes stronger in the future, we can also invade the grassland."
All the officials nodded.
Xun Yu said: "Master Chen, this is completely different. Liu Zhang has absolute control over the foreign races, but we are now united. We can mobilize Xianbei and Wuhuan soldiers at will?
The Battle of Xiahetao indeed invited aliens to fight, but this time we used food to nourish them. How much food did the hundreds of thousands of alien troops need to consume? How much food do we still have to consume?
In the past few years, our army has been losing ground, constantly expanding its army and preparing for war, and has consumed a lot of food. Although there are donations from aristocratic families, it cannot make ends meet. Exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes on the people are already heavy enough. If more taxes are imposed, it may trigger a civil uprising.
This unreasonable feeding of foreigners and the massive consumption of scarce food are second. We use so much food to give to foreigners. What do the people think?
The traitors do not have the final say, but the common people. If we ask foreigners to help us fight without using food, we can only rely on their own strength. But if we do this now, the common people will poke us in the back."
Xun Yu was in charge of the internal affairs, and since a large amount of donations from the noble families were sent to the army through Sima Yi, Xun Yu was only in charge of collecting taxes from the civilians. He was well aware of the current situation of the people under Cao's army.
Hebei was originally the richest region of the Han Dynasty, but after the war between Cao and Yuan, a large amount of taxes were imposed and the Guanzhong War was launched before recovery. Since then, the people of Hebei have been under heavy taxation. The people of Hebei have lived the worst life that they have not experienced in hundreds of years.
Hard days.
It would be fine if the whole world were like Hebei.
On the other hand, in the areas under the jurisdiction of the Sichuan Army, Liu Zhang continued to introduce policies to encourage and improve farming, but he did not increase taxes for six years, and sometimes he even preferred not to go on an expedition rather than increase grain collection.
Before the Battle of Guanzhong, how much of the food for the Sichuan Army was purchased from the aristocratic families in Jiangdong and Hebei in the Central Plains?
There is also part of the Sichuan Army's grain, which is also the surplus grain that the Sichuan Army bought from the people with money.
In the past, it was to heal the trauma of the rebellion in Jingyi Province. After the Battle of Guanzhong, Jingyi Province had fully recovered, but even so, Liu Zhang did not increase taxes.
Precisely because there was not enough food, Liu Zhang gave up his snowballing attempt to unify the world after the Battle of Guanzhong, and instead retreated to Guanzhong to recuperate.
This time, the Sichuan Army also sent out only 100,000 troops into Xiahetao because they did not have enough food. Otherwise, with the strength of the Sichuan Army, they would have launched a full-scale attack on Hebei.
It's not that the Sichuan army couldn't raise enough food, but that it took care of people's livelihood during the war. This is how it accumulates.
Just because he was loyal to Cao Cao, Xun Yu never said that if this continues, even if Cao's army has the support of the family, it will not be able to outstrip the Sichuan army in terms of logistics, and it will be defeated sooner or later.
Looking at the lives of the people in the Sichuan army, and then looking at Hebei, one side is prospering from ruins, and the other side is prospering and the people are struggling to survive. When Xun Yu issued the notice to requisition food, he felt ashamed.
Moreover, Xun Yu was dissatisfied with inviting foreigners to help him in the last battle at Xiahetao. This was not only a shame, but also marked the complete decline of Cao's army, and the trapped beasts were still fighting.