Not long after Cao Yu arrived in Fancheng, Li Yan also received news from Wei Ba. He was relieved to learn that Wei Ba had captured Shunyang. He was originally worried that Wei Ba was powerless. After all, it was not possible to attack the city with his troops.
Easy, but I didn't expect that Wei Ba actually made an extraordinary move. Not only did he conquer Shunyang City, he also killed Guo Li's 5,000 infantry cavalry in one go, and suddenly had 2,000 cavalry.
Li Yan couldn't help but admire this, and was even a little jealous. Two thousand war horses, how much wealth is this? Zhuge Liang spent a lot of effort to raise four thousand horses, but as soon as Wei Ba took action, Cao Rui
I gave him two thousand horses.
This is really unstoppable luck. Why is there such a big gap between people?
However, for now, Li Yan is just a little jealous of Wei Ba. After all, he still hopes that Wei Ba will steal Cao Rui's retreat and force Cao Rui to retreat from Fancheng. The stronger Wei Ba is, the more likely he is to attack him.
The better.
It is also out of this consideration that Li Yan also strongly supports Wei Ba's idea of seizing Wuguandao first. Wuguandao is easier to capture, but the impact is not small, and it must have touched Cao Rui.
Secondly, if the Wuguan Road can be opened and Ma Di, who is guarding Chang'an, can attack Nanyang together, then Wei Ba will have a greater chance of success. Although he doesn't like Ma Di, he can bring Zhuge Liang's former confidant to his side, which will increase Zhuge Liang's popularity.
Definitely a heavy blow.
How could Li Yan let go of such a good thing?
Therefore, Li Yan not only fully agreed with Wei Ba's strategy, but also sent Feng Jin, who was stationed in the southern part of Nanxiang County and Jun County, to transport some grain to Wei Ba. He sent a message to Wei Ba, take your time and don't be in a hurry.
I have confidence in you.
Li Yan immediately passed the news of Wei Ba's victory to Fei Yi and asked him to inform Sun Quan. Fei Yi had been in contact with Wei Ba before, but now that Wei Ba had gone to Nanxiang, he had to contact Li Yan. Regardless of whether he and Zhuge Liang were in contact with each other.
Not the most considerate, but he and Li Yan were definitely not considerate. But at this time, he had to consider the overall situation and go all out to help Li Yan maintain the relationship with Sun Quan, not to mention the frustration in his heart.
When Sun Quan received the news of Wei Ba's victory, he felt very complicated. On the one hand, the more Wei Ba tormented Cao Rui's rear, the greater his chance of conquering Jiangxia. On the other hand, Wei Ba had also tormented him like this before.
He will definitely continue to torment him, so now that he sees Wei Ba going smoothly, he will inevitably feel a little unhappy.
This feeling of wanting to live and wanting to die is really uncomfortable.
However, when things have reached this point, Sun Quan cannot let go of this good opportunity no matter how unwilling he is. Differences between Han and Wu are inevitable, but that is a matter for the future. The most important thing now is to seize the time to seize the territory. Whoever seizes it will win.
Whose.
Sun Quan immediately conveyed the battle situation in Nanyang to Lu Xun. As Wei Ba opened up the situation near Wancheng, the possibility of Wei holding Nanyang became smaller and smaller. Cao Rui might not give up easily. In this way, Han and Wei were in Nanyang.
There is bound to be a fierce battle. You must be prepared. Once you have the opportunity, you must move quickly. If you can seize Jianghuai, this may be the best opportunity.
…
Lu'an...
Lu Xun stood on the slope, looking at the Wei army camp in the distance, and then at the Shu Han army camp in the other direction, and sighed involuntarily. Lu Lan stood behind him, heard him sigh, and sighed too.
Take a breath.
"I didn't expect that this matter was actually possible." Lu Xun murmured: "Zhongshan, do you think he had a plan from the beginning? Otherwise, why would he go to Shunyang so obediently?"
Lu Lan grimaced. He didn't know how to answer Lu Xun's question. Could he have predicted the current situation at the beginning? This is too outrageous. The battle situation is so changeable, who could have predicted so much.
"How can he be so scheming at such a young age?" Lu Lan was silent for a long time before replying reluctantly: "Besides, he didn't show any signs of being a child prodigy before."
"Who knows." Lu Xun said with a bitter smile: "I have only heard that God is jealous of talents. Most prodigies do not live long. This time it is strange. An ordinary person suddenly became a genius after being ill. You said this is not God's will.
, what is God’s will?”
Lu Lan frowned and remained silent. He was particularly disgusted with the word "God's Will", especially when it came from Lu Xun's mouth.
"Go to the Han army camp and tell them that I will invite them to come over to discuss the military situation." Lu Xun turned around and looked at the helpless Lu Lan: "Now it seems that there is no chance of seizing Jianghuai. We really should
Be prepared in advance to avoid being caught off guard.”
Lu Lan responded and turned around. Hearing that Lu Xun had invited him to discuss the military situation, Chen Dao and Zhao Tong discussed it. From Chen Dao to guard the camp, Zhao Tong and Sun Luban came to the Wu army camp.
Before this, Lu Xun had always felt that Sun Quan had been tricked by Wei Ba and sent tens of thousands of troops for an unrealistic goal. In the end, they could only be used by Wei Ba to serve as a branch to contain the main force of the Wei army. Therefore, Lu Xun took the initiative
He had never been very enthusiastic about attacking. He was guarding the city of Lu'an, confronting Zhang He and Man Chong, and was ready to retreat at any time. He had no intention of actually attacking Lu'an. Now that Lu Xun offered to discuss the military situation, he naturally approved Wei Ba's plan.
It is possible to realize it. For Sun Luban, this is as happy as if he has the upper hand.
After entering the tent, Sun Luban looked at Lu Xun with a smile: "General Fu Guo, are you determined to capture Jianghuai this time?"
Lu Xun bowed calmly: "Princess, I have accepted the king's order, so naturally I have to make some preparations. I think General Zhao has also received the relevant news?"
Zhao Tong nodded: "Yes, I have also received news that Wei Ba has regained Shunyang. If he can really enter the hinterland of Nanyang and even attack Wancheng, then the main force of the Wei army will inevitably retreat, and our opportunity will indeed come. However,
, if we continue to stand still as we are now and allow Zhang He to retreat, even if Wei Ba is good at fighting, he may not have much chance of success."
Lu Xun smiled, as if he didn't hear Zhao Tong's accusation. Sun Luban saw it and couldn't help but snorted. Her biggest dissatisfaction with Lu Xun was this expression, neither yin nor yang, no matter what you say, he
No one had any reaction. In her opinion, the reason why the battle was deadlocked was because of Lu Xun's inaction. Otherwise, they would have defeated Zhang He and Man Chong long ago and sent their troops into the hinterland of Yuzhou. How could they still be entangled with Man Chong in Lu'an.
Without great military exploits, how could Zhao Tong be promoted to three levels in a row?
Lu Xun gently knocked on the table and was silent for a long time. Then he slowly raised his head and looked at Zhao Tong quietly: "General Zhao, I want to ask a question. What did Wei Ba do with you before you set off?"
By the way, does he have an overall strategy for this war?"
Zhao Tong thought for a moment and did not answer Lu Xun immediately. Of course, Wei Ba had explained everything to him, but he could not tell Lu Xun all these things. How much should he tell Lu Xun? Proportion here is very important. Tell too little, and the two sides will not be able to cooperate.
Too much, and it may arouse Lu Xun's vigilance, and even make him guess Wei Ba's true intention and use it according to his wishes, which in turn will be detrimental to Shu Han.
"General, do you have any ideas? You might as well tell me face to face." Zhao Tong smiled slightly: "When you ask this, I really don't know where to start. Wei Ba and I are brothers, and he has said too many things to me.
I don’t know what to tell the general at the moment.”
Lu Xun nodded. After these days of getting along, he knew Zhao Tong's character very well. It would be extremely difficult to get something out of him. Even Sun Luban might not really know her husband.
How many secrets are hidden in my heart?
Lu Xun waved and asked someone to take a map and spread it on the table. He looked at Zhao Tong and said, "In General Zhao's opinion, where will the key to this battle be, and where will the decisive battle be?"
"The decisive battle is of course between Xiangyang and Fancheng. Nanyang is the gateway to Yingluo. Xiangyang is the gateway to Nanyang. Now the main force of the Wei army is in Fancheng. Even the emperor of Wei is in Fancheng. Its importance to Wei has been clearly understood."
Sun Luban interrupted angrily: "No, if Li Yan hadn't dragged Cao Rui in Fancheng, my father could have attacked Jiangxia so calmly, and the general could have sat here chatting?"
Lu Xun shook his head indifferently: "I don't think so."
Sun Luban raised his eyebrows and was about to get angry when Zhao Tong winked at her, shook his head and asked calmly: "What do you think, general?"
"Wei Ba is indeed good at fighting, but he is not an arrogant person. With our strength, if we want to fight the Wei army in Xiangfan, it may not be enough to win. Besides, if we really want to fight in Fancheng, why would he go back to the north of Fancheng?
Why should he let the generals leave Yuzhou, concentrate their forces, and fight the Wei army in Fancheng?"
Zhao Tong said calmly: "The strength of our army alone is of course insufficient. Only by gathering the forces of Han and Wu can we have an advantage. However, although Han and Wu have been alliance countries over the years, there is no mutual respect between them.
There are also many differences. If we join forces, I am afraid that not only will we not be able to work together, but we will become enemies and some tragedies will happen that should not happen."
Lu Xun's eyebrows jumped. Of course he knew what tragedy Zhao Tong was referring to. However, he immediately regained his composure: "Yes, the conflict of interests between Wu and Han is not small. If nothing else, Wei Ba's influence on our country of Wu is
There were so many setbacks, but they are still fresh in our memories. However, I don’t think this is the only reason why Wei Ba did this.”
Lu Xun smiled: "I believe that compared to the decisive battle in Xiangyang, he prefers to place the battlefield near Wancheng. The art of war has it that ten means to encircle it, five means to attack it, if it is doubled, it will be divided, and the enemy will be able to fight.
In other words, our total strength is similar to that of the Wei army. A frontal decisive battle would be disadvantageous for us, so we might as well divide it up. Let Li Yan contain the main force of the Wei army, while we and Wei Ba will outflank Cao Rui on both sides and attack Cao Rui's rear.
In order to protect Wan City, Rui must retreat, so the final battlefield should be Wan City."
Zhao Tong was silent for a long time, neither confirming nor denying Lu Xun's analysis.
"If you want to complete the Northern Expedition as soon as possible, the best plan is to annihilate the main force of the Wei army in Nanyang. If possible, kill Cao Rui. Cao Rui still has no adult heirs. Once he dies in Nanyang, the Wei state will inevitably be in chaos."
"And if we want to annihilate the main force of the Wei army in Nanyang, we must control this place." Lu Xun stretched out his hand and clicked on the map: "Occupying this place is to block the throat of the Wei army. It can prevent the Wei army from Nanyang from retreating, and it can also prevent the Wei army from Luoyang.
Reinforcements.”
"Kunyang?" Zhao Tong's eyes tightened.
"Yes, Kunyang." Lu Xun chuckled softly and glanced at Sun Luban intentionally or unintentionally. "By capturing Kunyang at the right time and seizing the Wei army by the throat, the general will not only have the opportunity to advance to three levels in a row, but he can even change the situation in the world.
, and achieved great military exploits no less than those of Wei Ba."