"Your Majesty, I have something to say, and I would like to ask Your Majesty for your clear warning." Lu Xun bowed and said in a calm tone: "Cao Xiu, as the Grand Sima of Cao Wei, followed Cao Cao in raising troops, commanding tiger and leopard cavalry, and it has been nearly forty years now. We fought many times and although we didn’t win a big victory, we can’t say we are incompetent.”
Sun Quan's eyes flashed and he nodded. As the commander-in-chief of Cao Wei's southeastern front, Cao Xiu was indeed a formidable enemy. In the first year of Huanglong, he had just defeated Liu Bei who had invaded in large numbers. Cao Pi ordered Cao Xiu to lead Zhang Liao and twenty others because he refused to surrender his hostage. General Yu defeated Lu Fan in Dongpu. The year before last, he defeated the Shende of Wancheng, causing the newly captured Wancheng to fall again. Although he had not achieved any major achievements in the years when he was the military commander of Yangzhou, there were also some achievements in Soochow. There is nothing that can be done against him. For such a person, it is not entirely true to say that he holds important responsibilities just because of his family ties to the Cao family.
"Cao Xiu knew he was being ambushed, but refused to retreat, so he had his own support. This time he led an army of 100,000 troops, and they were well-prepared. Although the main force was surrounded, there were Jia Kui and Sima Yi behind him on both sides. The total strength of the road reinforcements is not weaker than ours. In addition, they have the advantage of cavalry. If we fight from behind, even though our army has the power of a supreme personal conquest, it is easy to win, but the losses will definitely not be small. Even if Jianghuai is defeated , how can we hold on to it?"
Sun Quan sighed softly. He already knew that he was rash. It was not that he was unclear about what Lu Xun said. It was just that he was attracted by the temptation of taking over Jianghuai, and for a moment he forgot that although Jianghuai was beautiful, it was not him. If you can swallow it, if you swallow it now, you will have to spit it out sooner or later. As Zhu Huan said, if he occupied Shouchun and threatened Xu Luo, wouldn't that kid Cao Rui fight with him?
"Furthermore, before our army set off, Zhuge Liang had been in Hanzhong for more than a year. His purpose in going to Hanzhong was very obvious, which was to expedition to the north of the Central Plains and plot Guanzhong." Lu Xun's voice became louder, and he did not look at Zhu Huan from beginning to end. At first glance, he only had Sun Quan in his eyes. "Contact our army and instigate Meng Da to rebel. Doesn't he just want us to contain Cao Wei's main force so that he can take advantage of it?"
Sun Quan's green eyes narrowed and his expression became more solemn. He knew Zhuge Liang's thoughts clearly, so he did not delay in moving as promised. He originally thought that Zhuge Liang would be unable to hold back and launch an attack at the beginning of the year, leaving Cao Wei's When the main force moved westward, he designed Zhou bream to lure Cao Xiu. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang remained motionless in Hanzhong, which made him have an arrow on the string and had to fire it. He could only reluctantly make the bait.
If the prediction is correct, Zhuge Liang must have started the Northern Expedition now. The main force of Cao Wei is in the southeast, and the northwest theater has only 30,000 to 50,000 troops at most. Zhuge Liang is taking advantage of the opportunity and is very likely to capture Guanzhong.
Once Zhuge Liang captures Guanzhong, the pressure on Cao Wei will increase greatly, but it may not be a good thing for Soochow. Yes, Wu and Shu are allies now, but allies are always temporary. We will eventually have a showdown with the world. I will pay The price was heavy. At most, Jianghuai could be occupied, and at most, Jianghuai could not be occupied. It only created a good opportunity for Zhuge Liang, allowing him to easily conquer Guanzhong.
Is this worth it?
At present, it is not only very difficult to completely annihilate Cao Xiu, but also in the long run, it will be detrimental to our country of Wu. It is better to inflict heavy damage on Cao Xiu at the minimum cost, get the benefits I deserve, and then retreat, leaving Cao Wei free to deal with Shu Han. , instead of shouldering the pressure of Cao Wei independently. When Cao Wei and Shu Han are both defeated, I will make a comeback and reap the benefits.
If you want to minimize losses and maximize gains, you must attack Cao Xiu before Jia Kui and Sima Yi arrive, severely injuring him, rather than annihilating him completely. Surround three towers and give the enemy a way to retreat, so that they will not be forced to fight to the death.
Reduce your own casualties.
This was Lu Xun's intention in using troops.
Sun Quan could understand, but he couldn't say it directly. Although this suggestion was put forward by Zhu Huan, it was approved by him, so Zhu Huan would say it again in front of Lu Xun. If he vetoes Zhu Huan in person now, with Zhu Huan's
If you have a bad temper, he will definitely be very angry, which will lead to estrangement.
"What does Boyan mean?" Sun Quan asked calmly.
Lu Xun was helpless. Sun Quan refused to be a bad guy, so he had to be the bad guy. This time he led the troops and sent out troops. The Wu army had a total of more than 100,000 people. After getting rid of the 20,000 forbidden troops under Sun Quan's personal control, he left the more than 90,000 people.
He, Zhu Huan, and Quan Cong each commanded 30,000 men. Although Zhu Huan was a partial general, he was actually on par with him as the main general. It is not difficult to discover Sun Quan's intentions from this.
"I think that General Fenwu is commendable for his courage, but in the long run, this plan is not appropriate."
As Lu Xun expected, Zhu Huan became furious, stood up, and walked away without even saying hello.
Sun Quan laughed helplessly: "Bo Yan, he is just a rough man, don't mind too much." He paused for a moment and then said: "I agree with your suggestion, just fight according to your ideas."
"Here." Lu Xun bowed and accepted the order with a bitter mouth.
After getting Sun Quan's consent, Lu Xun immediately issued an order, ordering the armies to advance quickly and besiege Cao Xiu before Jia Kui and Sima Yi arrived. The Wu army waited for work, with twice the strength of Cao Xiu. In addition, Sun Quan's personal expedition greatly boosted morale.
With high morale, the vanguard quickly defeated Cao Xiu's main force. Seeing that the situation was not good, Cao Xiu retreated while fighting and retreated to the vicinity of Shiting. That night, the shocked Wei army exploded the camp. Lu Xun immediately seized the opportunity, and the governor's army attacked fiercely, and was defeated again.
Cao Xiu.
Cao Xiu suffered heavy losses, his ambitions were in vain, and he had no intention of fighting anymore, so he could only lead the remaining army to retreat. With the situation looking good, Zhu Huan once again suggested sending troops to cut off Cao Xiu's retreat and annihilate Cao Xiu.
When Sun Quan saw that Cao Xiu had no strength to fight back, he was also moved. Without informing Lu Xun, he ordered Zhu Huan to lead his army to set up an ambush behind Cao Xiu with rocks.
Knowing that Zhu Huan had left the position and disappeared, Lu Xun knew something was wrong. He pretended not to know, but calmly slowed down his pursuit. Cao Xiu saw that Wu Jun had slowed down, so he also slowed down and waited until he arrived.
When he reached the shore, he realized that Wu Jun's sudden slowdown was purposeful, and his retreat had been cut off by Wu Jun.
With no way to survive, Cao Xiu calmed down. While he arranged for people to break Zhu Huan's blockade, he also sent people to notify Jia Kui for reinforcements. Jia Kui arrived faster than he expected. He personally went into battle and stormed Zhu Huan's position.
The Wei army went crazy trying to escape. Zhu Huan paid a heavy price, but still failed to block the Wei army's attack. He could only watch Jia Kui helping Cao Xiu out of the Wu army's encirclement.
While Zhu Huan was fighting hard, Lu Xun was cleaning the battlefield with trailers. Cao Xiu just ran for his life, and the discarded baggage piled up like a mountain. There were more than 10,000 vehicles of various types alone, which can be said to be a huge harvest. It was said that Zhu Huan was defeated by Jia Kui.
Falling into the encirclement of the Wei army, Lu Xun once again ordered the pursuit, and chased him to Jia Shi in one breath, defeated Cao Xiu again, and rescued Zhu Huan.
The disgraced Zhu Huan looked at the calm Lu Xun, his teeth itched with hatred, and he had nowhere to vent his anger. He had to step forward to thank Lu Xun for saving his life. Lu Xun said a few words in a lukewarm manner, but he was very polite.
, but the meaning is very clear. Look, I said no, you have to go, you can’t blame others.
Zhu Huan was furious. He knew that he had been tricked by Lu Xun, and he wanted to scold him. However, the situation was so compelling that he was defeated. Sun Quan could not speak for him, and he could only use the broken teeth.
Swallow it into your belly.
At this point, the Southeast War ended with the Wu army's victory.
…
Luoyang Imperial Palace, Tai Chi Hall.
Emperor Cao Rui stood on the threshold with his hands behind his back, looking at the sky in the distance in trance. Sun Zi, the regular servant of Sanqi, stood carefully behind him, holding in his hand a copy of Cao Xiu's battle report that he had just received.
Sun Zi was very nervous. Although Cao Rui didn't get angry very much, he had served Cao Rui for many years and he knew Cao Rui's temperament very well.
The calmer you are, the more angry you are, and the more disappointed and frustrated you are.
Disappointment and frustration came from two people: one was Xiahou Mao and the other was Cao Xiu. Both of them were members of the Cao family, but they both failed Cao Rui's hopes. Xiahou Mao had previously vowed that he could defend Guanzhong, but he
Cao Zhen was allowed to recuperate in Luoyang and handed over the highest command of the western theater to Xiahou Mao. He did not expect Xiahou Mao to defeat the invading Zhuge Liang. He only hoped that he could defend Longyou, or at least Guanzhong, and wait for reinforcements.
Give him time to resolve the war in the southeast.
Later Xiahou Mao said that because of the surrender of Wei Yan's son Wei Ba, he had already known Zhuge Liang's military arrangements and had made preparations. On the one hand, he was stationed in the fields to accumulate grain, and on the other hand, he was building cities for defense. In short, he could not hold on for several months.
Question. It was out of this confidence that Cao Rui agreed to Cao Xiu's plan, intending to recapture the Lujiang River in one fell swoop, drive the Soochow people out of the Jianghuai area, and confront each other across the river.
If all this goes as planned, not only can we gain the Jianghuai land and gain a favorable situation in the southeastern theater, but we can also use this to allow Cao Xiu and Xiahou Mao to make contributions. Cao Xiu is the top general in the southeastern theater, and Xiahou Maoque
Otherwise, he has no military exploits. As the governor of Guanzhong, he has always done an unjustifiable job. In the eyes of many ministers, this is nepotism rather than a manifestation of meritocracy, and they are quite critical of this. If Xiahou Mao can hold Guanzhong, Long will
In the next few months, when the main force of the Forbidden Army withdraws from the southeast theater, he will have merit. Not only will the governor of Guanzhong feel at ease, but he will also be able to continue to be promoted in the future.
For Cao Rui, letting Xiahou Mao perform meritorious service can not only eliminate the complaints of nepotism, but also re-establish the Xiahou family's strength in the military and balance the existing powerful officials, especially the minister with a foreign surname, Sima Yi. It is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.
Like his grandfather Cao Cao, Cao Rui had always been wary of Sima Yi. At the beginning of the year, Sima Yi defeated Fangling. The reason why he refused to remove Sima Yi from the post of hussar general was not because he didn't want to, but because he felt that the time was not right.
When Cao Xiu or even Xiahou Mao can defeat Zhuge Liang, how can Sima Yi not submit a letter to resign? It is better for him to resign on his own initiative than to be dismissed because of his defeat.
However, now he encountered the biggest crisis. When the main force of the Forbidden Army was transferred to the southeast, Zhuge Liang suddenly sent troops to Longyou. Not only was this more than a month earlier than he expected to send troops after the autumn, but the direction was also different from what Xiahou Mao said.
, not Guanzhong, but Longyou. Just when he thought the situation was not particularly bad, worse news came. Wei Yanbing came out of Ziwu Valley and sent troops to occupy Tongguan, cutting off the connection between Luoyang and Guanzhong.
Since then, there has been no news about Guanzhong, and the area west of Tongguan seems to have suddenly disappeared from the territory of the Wei Dynasty.
This was even more shocking to Cao Rui than when Chang'an fell and the Shu Han army captured Tongguan in battle.
Ziwu Valley, doesn’t everyone say that it is impossible to march in Ziwu Valley?
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