Wei Ni

Even the gossip between my brothers, Guanqiu Jian has to report to you?
Xiahou Hui was a little surprised when he heard the question. He was stunned for a moment before he answered respectfully, "Your Majesty, yes. But Your Majesty, the four counties of Liaodong are long and narrow, with the coastline connected. To the north are Wuhuan and Xianbei, to the east is Goguryeo, and to the south is Linhan and Ye. With the troops led by my brother, I am afraid it is difficult to defend them all. If only the bandit Wu crosses the sea to invade the coast of Liaodong County, I may be able to stop it, but if Goguryeo and Han Ye also take the opportunity to cause trouble, I am afraid that my brother will be like a skilled cook who can't cook without rice."

"Um"

With a slight nasal sound, Emperor Cao Rui stroked his beard again and said nothing.

He was very familiar with the topography of the four counties in Liaodong, and he also knew the general situation of how Guanqiu Jian had previously deployed the Youzhou border troops that had accompanied him in the expedition to various counties.

For example, Xuantu County and the western part of Liaodong County (west of Qianshan Mountains) had more arable land and dense population, so they had the most garrison troops. However, the eastern part of Liaodong County, Lelang and Daifang County had fewer garrisons due to poor land and sparse population, and most of them were soldiers who surrendered from Gongsun Yuan.

There was actually nothing wrong with Guanqiu Jian's deployment.

After all, the garrison has to consider the issue of supply.

Given the remoteness of the eastern part of Liaodong County and Lelang and Daifang counties, Liaodong County could not afford to station sufficient troops there; if Qingzhou were to be allowed to transport food and fodder across the sea, it would not be worth the loss. At least in the eyes of the court officials, it would not be worth the loss to spend the taxes of two or three wealthy counties in the Central Plains to protect a place with less than 3,000 households. In particular, as the backup of Huainan, Qingzhou had to continue to supply blood to Yangzhou in order to restore the military strength before the Battle of Shiting and prepare for the future crossing of the Yangtze River to destroy Wu.

"Does Zhiquan know where Zhongquan has deployed his defenses?"

Frowning slightly, Cao Rui asked slowly, "Approximately how many troops are there?"

"Your Majesty, I know most of it."

Xiahou Hui answered loudly, "When I left Liaodong, my brother deployed about 300 white horse volunteers from Gongsun Yi's army to the coast of Anshi County, and 300 infantrymen from Sima Weishu's army to the coast of Pingguo County, on the pretext that Liaosui had troops stationed there. But I don't know if there have been any changes to this day."

The coastline is so long, but they only have less than 600 infantry and cavalry.
Hearing this, Cao Rui couldn't help feeling unhappy, but he couldn't blame anyone.

There is no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days.
Gongsun Du in Liaodong had been destroyed for many years, and it was unknown whether and when the enemy Wu would attack. Even if Xiahou Ba wanted to increase the number of troops for garrison, he had no suitable reason.

However, he soon felt better.

Sun Zi, who had been listening quietly, suddenly interrupted and said, "Your Majesty, I know something about the current defense deployment along the coast of Pingguo County. The number of soldiers has increased to nearly a thousand."

"Oh?"

Cao Rui tilted his head in surprise and asked, "How come Sun Qing knows so much about Liaodong?"

"I am ashamed. Your Majesty, it is because of my son."

Sun Zi smiled and explained the reason in detail.

It turned out that he wanted to emulate the story of Ding Mi, so he believed Xiahou Hui's assertion and sent his second son Sun Mi, who was also banned from official career, to Youzhou and asked Guanqiu Jian to recruit him as his aide.

But after Sun Mi arrived in Youzhou, he bid farewell to Guanqiu Jian and rushed to Liaodong County to look for Xiahou Ba.

The reason was that he was quite friendly with Zhuge Dan, who was also imprisoned. With the feeling of sympathy for Zhuge Dan and meeting an old friend in a foreign land, he wanted to keep Zhuge Dan company and take care of each other.

Regardless of family background or reputation, Zhuge Dan deserves Xiahou Ba's courtesy.

In particular, in Xiahou Hui's letter of recommendation to Xiahou Ba, he did not hesitate to praise his ability. So Xiahou Ba, as Zhuge Dan requested, let him go to Pingguo County to be on guard together with Wei Shu.

Although Zhuge Dan and Sun Mi are both commoners now, when they went to Liaodong, they each brought more than 300 soldiers with them.

By this calculation, Xiahou Ba's deployment in Pingguo County was about a thousand people.

Don't underestimate these thousand people.

The hundred men under Wei Shu's command were all members of the Zuo family, and were all selected from caravan guards who traveled outside the Great Wall all year round. Their combat effectiveness was no worse than that of the elite in the army. The other two hundred men were the elite in the army selected by Xiahou Ba.

Not to mention the troops of Zhuge Dan and Ding Mi.

The two of them traveled thousands of miles to Liaodong in order to achieve great achievements and be awarded titles.

If they see the enemy Wu invading, they will naturally be happy to hear about the war, and everyone will fight to the death without turning back.

"Since we are prepared, a thousand men are enough to resist the sneak attack by the thief Wu!"

After hearing this, Cao Rui heaved a sigh of relief, and with a rather happy expression, he called it Sun Zi, and then turned his head to instruct Xiahou Hui, "Although the enemy Wu may not invade Huainan, Zhiquan still needs to let all the troops in the central army prepare, and do not allow them to take leave for the time being."

This meant that he should leave and not talk about Liaodong affairs anymore.

Think about it.

As to whether the eastern part of Liaodong County, Lelang and Daifang counties were attacked by Goguryeo and Han Ye, neither Youzhou nor the imperial court could do anything about it. We should just wait for the military report to arrive before making any decisions. There is no need to continue discussing it and cause trouble.

"Yes. I obey your command."

Xiahou Hui understood the hint and left the table, accepting the order.

As soon as he walked out of the East Hall, the Grand Commandant Sima Yi was the first to bow to the emperor and congratulate him, "I, your majesty, congratulate you. We, the governor of Wei, have a successor!"

Jiang Ji's reaction was not slow either.

As soon as Sima Yi finished speaking, he said, "Anticipate the enemy in advance, prepare for a rainy day, and defend against the enemy thousands of miles away. I think that Zhiquan's strategy is as good as Xiahou's! This is a blessing for the country of Wei!" "Sima Gong and Jiang Qing are too kind."

Waving his hands, Cao Rui was delighted, but he still said in a nonchalant tone, "Zhi Quan has always been reckless. He just made some gains now. It is not worth praising him so much. Well, Sima Gong, Yuzhou suffered a disaster. Yingchuan Dian Nong Department has difficulty in supplying food and fodder to Jingzhou. Since the military rations of Jingxiang are not stored for a hundred days, how much food and fodder can be transferred from Jingzhao Dian Nong Department?"

"Return to Your Majesty"

About half an hour later, the king and his ministers finally stopped discussing.

Just as everyone was leaving the East Hall, Liu Fang quickly stepped forward and whispered to Sima Yi, "Lord Sima, can we move to the Secretariat to talk?"

Jiang Ji, who had been standing shoulder to shoulder with Sima Yi, turned a deaf ear and strode away.

Because he knew that Liu Fang actually wanted to ask Sima Yi when there would be a war in Yongliang - since Sima Yi returned to the court, he had asked Liu Xi, who was about to be imprisoned in his official career, to transfer to the Yongliang Governor Guo Huai as a staff member. Now that he saw that Sun Zi's son was about to achieve great things in Liaodong, he was naturally a little anxious.

"How dare I not go when Mr. Liu invites me?"

Even though he was somewhat reluctant in his heart, Sima Yi still went there happily with a smile on his face.

Sun Zi paused and hesitated for a moment, then bowed and left, saying that he had reported the emperor's decision to the Secretariat.

However, what he didn't know was that his act of avoiding suspicion surprised Liu Fang slightly, and then there was some dissatisfaction in his eyes when he looked at his back.

We have been through thick and thin together for so many years, and I am still your son. Why do you want to avoid suspicion?
How can I avoid suspicion!
You are avoiding suspicion. How can I, alone, convince Sima Zhongda to urge Guo Huai and give my son a chance to make a contribution!
The deceased is like a husband who does not want to leave day or night.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the end of July, and military intelligence from Huainan and Jingxiang once again reached Luoyang.

Jiang Ji's prediction that the bandit Wu might not send troops to Huainan was wrong.

It was not that he had been away from Huainan for too long and was no longer suitable for participating in the war, but that the rebel Wu had launched an attack on Huainan this year at the invitation of a rebellious general of Wei.

It was Lu Xi, the chief clerk of Lujiang County, who had not been promoted for a long time and was resentful, so he betrayed the State of Wei and secretly sent envoys to request troops from the State of Wu, promising that he would open the city gates to cooperate inside and outside.

In response to this, Sun Quan, who had not crossed the Fei River for decades, was overjoyed and responded positively.

First, he ordered Zhu Ran to raise troops in Jingxiang to tie down the Wei army. Then he appointed General Quan Cong as the commander-in-chief and led General Zhu Huan and other veteran generals to rush to Lu'an County, the seat of Lujiang County.

It's just a pity.

Quan Cong had just entered Chaohu Lake with his troops and had not yet landed when the traitor Lü Xi was discovered and killed. Facing the Wei army's vigilant battle array, Quan Cong felt that the initiative had been lost and that it was useless to fight again. After gathering his generals to discuss strategies, he had no choice but to withdraw his troops.

On the Jingxiang front, Zhu Ran, who was originally providing support, also retreated.

But he had been through battles.

However, after he led his troops to besiege Jiangxia County, Xiahou Ru, the governor of Jingxiang County of Wei, did not send troops to fight because of his small number of troops and insufficient food, and because Jiangxia Shiyang City was small but strong. Zhu Ran then continued to besiege Jiangxia Shiyang with the troops in Wuchang, and led his own troops to go north along the Mian River by boat to besiege Xiangyang City.

If the Wei army did not leave the city, they would send troops to plunder the Jingman people in Zhuozhong who had joined the Wei Yi King, forcing the Wei army to fight.

In response to this, Xiahou Ru and Hu Zhi discussed and decided to strike back.

He himself left Fancheng and headed for Xiangyang to ensure that there was no shortage of food and fodder. He also sent various small officers to lead hundreds of people each out of the city to take the dangerous places to lure Zhu Ran to divide his troops. After the Wu troops were dispersed, he sent his general Pu Zhong to lead thousands of people as the vanguard to go straight to Zhu Ran's flag. Hu Zhi led thousands of people to first lift the siege of Xiangyang and then provide support for Pu Zhong.

This strategy is very good and it worked successfully.

At that time, Zhu Ran had already sent out his troops to plunder everywhere. When Pu Zhong led his troops to the front, the scattered soldiers had no way of rushing back to gather together. Only 800 of his own troops were with him.

But Pu Zhong was defeated.

With Zhu Ran leading the charge, 800 Wu soldiers fought against Pu Zhong's thousands of men and actually gained the upper hand.

It was not until Hu Zhi led his troops to arrive that Pu Zhong's troops were able to stabilize their position.

At this time, the scattered Wu soldiers also rushed back one after another.

Therefore, the Wei army did not press them any further and retreated to defend the city of Xiangyang, while Zhu Ran also slowly withdrew his troops and returned.

It's a draw.

The Wei army lifted the siege of Xiangyang and did not ask the central army in Luoyang for help; Zhu Ran's troops suffered little loss and completed the strategy of invading Jingxiang and supporting Huainan as scheduled.

Due to the long distance, the battle report from Liaodong did not arrive in Luoyang until the beginning of August in mid-autumn.

In his memorial, Xiahou Ba apologized and asked for help.

Thanks to his previous preparations, he was able to repel the sneak attack by Wu on the eastern part of Liaodong County and even gained some gains; but Xi'anping in the eastern part of Liaodong County was captured by the joint efforts of Goguryeo and Wu.

Besides Lelang and Daifang, except for the capitals that still held on, the rest of the counties were all destroyed. (End of this chapter)