There were only Liu Ye and the emperor in the hall, so Liu Ye spoke more directly:
"If I were in the position of Sun Quan or Zhuge Liang, I would attack Wei from the east and west, making it difficult for the Wei army to take care of itself!"
Cao Rui also sat up straighter: "Liu Qing, please tell me in detail!"
Liu Ye said: "Neither Sun Quan nor Zhuge Liang are fools. After the two battles in Huainan and Longyou, I think Wu and Shu should have seen clearly. The Wei foreign army is stationed at the border, and if there is a war, the central army will rush to help. In the Huainan and Longyou battles, the battles were all broken by the Wei central army."
"If Shu attacks the west and Wu attacks the east, what should the Wei army do? Should it split into two and send each army to support the other?"
Cao Rui frowned. "If we take last year's situation as an example, the general was in Chencang, so I wouldn't worry about Guanxi. But this spring and summer, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong and Hedong, so the troops in Guanxi must be short of food! In addition, Zhuge Liang has rested for another two years, so I'm afraid his army will be even more powerful."
Liu Ye was a little puzzled. Why did the emperor always pay extra attention and be extra careful whenever he mentioned Zhuge Liang?
When Liu Ye was in Youzhou, he had seen the war summary issued by the Privy Council. Although it was not specified, counseling military affairs was also Liu Ye's professional skill. Judging from the battle line and the situation, His Majesty hesitated for a long time before marching to Qishan and Chiting.
However, Liu Ye did not ask this question after all, as he thought it would be better to care about more important things.
But if Liu Ye asked, Cao Rui would not be able to give a direct answer. This kind of thing is difficult to explain. Before the present era, there were few generals like Zhuge Liang who became stronger with each battle and were capable of both military and political affairs.
Liu Ye cupped his hands and said, "This is the kind of thing that I'm worried about."
Cao Rui calmed down and asked, "Liu Qing, please be more specific. Where does the Wei Dynasty need to prepare the most?"
Liu Ye replied: "Dazhong and Wankou!"
Cao Rui nodded slightly and remained silent.
Among the places where Wei and Shu confronted each other, Hanzhong had Yangping Pass, and Wudu County was heavily guarded by Zhang He. However, the most western and remote Dazhong had the weakest military force and was the most difficult to defend.
It is something that cannot be helped.
Although the Great Wei officially had 300,000 soldiers, with such a vast territory, only more than 60,000 soldiers were allocated to Guanxi.
In the second and third years of Taihe, General Cao Zhen had discussed the issue repeatedly with the Privy Council and even Cao Rui himself.
The conclusion is that if we focus on defense everywhere, the manpower and logistics will be completely insufficient. It is the most reasonable decision to focus the manpower on Wudu and Qishan.
They could only use Da Zhong as a weaker "bait" to "attract" Shu to attack.
However, General Lu Xun, the Protector of the Qiang, did not have many complaints. The families of important generals of the imperial court had always lived in Luoyang or Yecheng to prevent the generals from rebelling or becoming disloyal.
In the second year of Taihe, Cao Rui granted the princess special permission to go to Dazhong to marry her new husband. In the third year of Taihe, the princess became pregnant and moved from Dazhong to Qishan City, the capital of Qinzhou. In the spring of the fourth year, she gave birth to a son.
Lu Xun was a native of Yangzhou. He was an official in an enemy country and in such a remote place as Qinzhou. He was naturally very happy to have a son in his middle age. After getting Cao Zhen's permission, he came to Qishan to visit him and named his young son Lu Kang.
Cao Rui only learned about this trivial matter after he arrived in Youbeiping.
Lu Xun had only 10,000 Qiang soldiers in Dazhong. He eliminated them several times in two years and added several new soldiers. Except for 4,000 light cavalry, the remaining 6,000 light cavalry were converted into infantry by Lu Xun. According to Lu Xun's own report, the overall combat effectiveness of these 10,000 Qiang soldiers was no different from that of ordinary prefecture soldiers.
If someone else had said this, Cao Rui might have doubted it. But this was Lu Xun after all, and he only had 10,000 soldiers, so Cao Rui still believed it without a doubt.
Cao Rui looked at Liu Ye and said, "With Lu Boyan in Dazhong, even if he cannot resist the Shu army due to his small number of soldiers, he can still prevent the situation from getting too bad and delay it until Zhang He comes to help."
"As for Wankou, I am a little unsure."
Liu Ye also nodded and said, "Jia Zhennan has always been known for his military management, political governance, and decision-making, but not for his bravery. If Sun Quan attacks Wankou in a large force, it will probably be like Wei's attack on Ruxu. Ruxu and Wankou are both on the river bank, and Wu's army relies on the advantage of the navy, which is inferior to Wei."
"Your Majesty has already ordered Generals Cheng, Wang, and Qian to move their camps. Why don't you send a letter to Minister Chen of Huainan and ask him to consider Wancheng and Wankou?" Cao Rui said, "This is feasible. However, I am far away in Youzhou and will not give instructions on specific matters. Let Minister Chen decide for himself how to act. Just point out the concerns of the court."
"Just send it in the form of a private message. Liu Qing will draft it for me!"
Liu Ye replied: "As you wish, I will start writing right away."
……
Jingzhou, Wuchang.
Yin Fan held several drafted documents in his hand and wanted to go to the palace of King Wu to ask for an audience with Hu Zong. However, before he could see Hu Zong, he was stopped at the palace gate by a young eunuch in his thirties.
"Wait a minute, my lord." The eunuch stretched out his hand to stop him. "General Hu has gone to the palace to discuss matters with the Supreme Lord. Why don't you ask the Chief Justice to wait outside for a while? When General Hu returns, I will invite you in."
Recently, in order to prepare for the persuasion of Sun Quan to become emperor, Yin Fan had been traveling between the Wu Palace and the Prime Minister's Mansion. This was the first time he was stopped. Yin Fan was frightened just now, thinking that they had discovered his identity.
In the main hall of the King of Wu's Palace, Sun Quan was discussing matters with Sun Huan, Pan Jun and Hu Zong.
After all, they were different political entities of the same era. Except for Shu Han, which did not have any royal family members to rely on, Wei and Wu both relied on royal family members to command troops.
There were many examples of royal family members in Wei State, and the most typical example of royal family members in Wu State commanding troops was Sun Quan's cousin Sun Huan.
When Sun Jian and Sun Wentai first started their army, their younger brothers Sun Jing and Sun Youtai contributed a lot. Sun Jing had five sons, among whom the third son Sun Jiao took over the defense of Xiakou after Cheng Pu died. After Sun Jiao's death, his younger brother Sun Huan took over his subordinates.
When Liu Bei attacked Yiling, Sun Quan also moved westward from Jianye in Yangzhou to Wuchang to garrison in order to control the overall situation. Sun Huan's army was closest to Sun Quan at that time, so Sun Quan also used Sun Huan's army as a foundation to form the Central Army of Wu.
After the Battle of Wancheng in the first year of Taihe, most of the Wu army, which originally had 50,000 soldiers, were destroyed, just like when Liu Xuande was in Yiling. Over the past three years, Sun Quan sent people to draw elite soldiers from all over the country and first set up the framework of the central army.
Although it is still somewhat inferior to the Wu State’s central army three years ago, it is still barely usable.
This time, General Sun Huan, who was good at making great achievements, and General Pan Jun, who was good at playing powerful roles, went to the palace of King Wu in Wuchang together. Their purpose was not to persuade him to ascend the throne, but to deal with serious military matters.
Listening to Sun Huan's introduction, Sun Quan frowned, as if he was making a difficult decision.
"Ji Ming, is this true?" Sun Quan asked.
Sun Huan bowed and said, "I came from Xiakou to Wuchang to speak to Your Majesty in person. How can this be false?"
"Now, on the Han River, the ships of the Great Wu can sail freely from Xiakou to Yicheng. The ships of the Wei State can only sail along a small section of the waterway from Xiangyang to Yicheng and dare not go south. Yicheng is not far from Xiangyang, and the water and rain conditions are almost the same."
"Since around August 6, torrential rains have been falling in Xiangyang and Yicheng. Two days ago, my general Zhang Liang learned from Yicheng that the Han River has begun to rise, and he sent people to inform me twice a day. Based on the water level, I estimate that the Han River has already overflowed under the city of Xiangyang!"
Sun Quan's brows were still furrowed. "So, the Han River has indeed risen. But if it has reached the point where it overflows under Xiangyang City, it is probably not caused by heavy rain in Xiangyang alone. In this case, the neighboring counties that flow into the Han River, such as Nanyang, Nanxiang, and the three eastern counties, should all have heavy rain."
"The last time the Han River flooded, if I remember correctly, was in the 24th year of Jian'an!" Sun Quan stroked his slightly purple beard and said, "Guan Yu was able to besiege Fancheng and defeat Yu Jin at that time, probably because of the weather when the Han River overflowed."
"Ji Ming means that Da Wu should take some action?"
Sun Huan kept nodding, and Pan Jun beside him looked even more excited.
"Your Majesty, the Han River has risen and overflowed, this is the right time and right place! In addition, Your Majesty wants to achieve his imperial cause, and all 70,000 troops have gathered in Wuchang. The Wei army is unprepared, this is the right people!"
"The time, the place, and the people are all right. This is a good opportunity bestowed upon the Supreme!" Pan Jun stood up, bowed and said, "I think the Supreme should postpone his title of emperor and lead 70,000 troops to attack Xiangyang!"
"I second the proposal." Sun Huan stood up and said in the same fiery tone: "The Wei army is not good at water battles. Now that the Han River has risen and divided the north and the south, it is the time for the Great Wu to advance to Xiangyang! Many years ago, the Great Wu occupied Xiangyang and then abandoned it. I am willing to be the vanguard to take Xiangyang as a gift to the Supreme Master!" (End of this chapter)
