A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 454: The Western Regions will be unified for three days, and all the Cao Cao will be defeated and Sima will be defeated.
Xuanwu three years
March
After the Western Region was pacified, Baiguan sent Chang Shi and envoys from various countries to visit Ye.

April
Yizhou governor and military advisor Zhuge Liang led 30,000 troops, marched out from Jinniu Road, and attacked Nanzheng. The rebel general Kou Feng fought in the formation, and Cao Han, the prefect of Hanzhong, retreated to Xicheng.

Zhuge's army and Cao's army resisted Xicheng, so Sima Yi sent his general Jia Si to lead four thousand troops to Xicheng to support them.

Zhuge Liang repeatedly attacked with no results, and went out for a long time, which caused a burden on Shu, so he returned to Nanzheng to garrison, and stayed away from Xicheng.

June
Prime Minister Sun Shao and Grand Governor Lu Xun led the ministers to persuade Sun Quan to proclaim himself emperor:

"Both Cao and Liu are the emperors, but my lord refuses the throne. I am afraid that I will be looked down upon by the people of the world and will not be able to interact with each other as equals. I respectfully invite my lord to ascend the throne and call me Jianyuan."

After the usual three words and three concessions.

June 13

Sun Quan ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor in Wuchang. His country was named "Wu" and Jianyuan was "Huanglong".

June th

Sun Quan ordered the capital to be moved to Jianye, and made the governor Lu Xun the supreme general, assisting the prince Sun Deng. Dong supervised military and state affairs and was stationed in Wuchang.

August
Hearing that Sun Quan had proclaimed himself emperor and had newly conquered Hanzhong, Cao Pi became more interested in conquering the south. However, he had recently suffered from health problems and was unable to do so himself.

Then he sent General Cao Zhen to lead 70,000 troops to attack Jingzhou south.

Cao's army marched with great momentum and soon attacked Lujiang County. Wu's army could not stop it.

Lu Xun knew that Cao's army was coming with a fierce force this time and could not defeat Cao Han with the help of Wu's troops, so he secretly ordered Zhou Li, the governor of Poyang, to pretend to surrender to Cao Han.

Cao Zhen was overjoyed when he heard that as long as Zhou Li surrendered, Cao's army could go straight into the core area of ​​the Wu Kingdom and have a foothold in the south of the Yangtze River, not far from the establishment of the Wu Kingdom's capital.

As long as Jianye is defeated, Wu will surrender without a fight.

Cao Zhen naturally couldn't resist such a huge temptation. Although Sima Yi repeatedly persuaded him that the matter might be a trap, Cao Zhen's successive victories made him proud.

Do you think that even if it is a trap, how can it cause harm to yourself with Wu Guo's weak soldiers and horses?

Immediately, he personally led the main force to Wancheng, and ordered Sima Yi to lead the army eastward to respond.

Cao Cao's army learned about Cao Xiu's marching route, and former general Man Chong wrote to Cao Pi:

"Although the general is wise, decisive and brave, he rarely uses troops.

This time, his marching route was backed by a lake and by the Yangtze River. It was easy to advance but difficult to retreat. This was a place that was easily blocked in the war.

If the army enters Wuxiankou, they should be on strict guard, otherwise they may be in danger of being defeated. "

However, Man Chong's petition had not yet received a response, and Cao Zhen's forces had already started a battle with the Wu army at Shiting.

In fact, as soon as he entered Shiting, Cao Zhen realized that Zhou Li was pretending to surrender, but he did not worry too much because he relied on the strength of his troops.

At the Shiting battlefield, Lu Xun led 40,000 troops. He personally led the army in the middle, and ordered Zhu Huan and Quan Cong to be the left and right wings respectively, and advance in three directions.

Cao Zhen failed to attack the Wu army's center many times, and it was very difficult to retreat. He ordered a retreat, hoping to lure the Wu army to the place where he ambush.

Unexpectedly, they were attacked by Wu troops led by Zhu Huan and Quan Cong, and the ambush was dispersed, so the feigned retreat turned into a real rout.

Cao's army was killed by Wu's army. Cao Zhen led the defeated army and ran backwards desperately until they reached the place where the rocks were sandwiched.

The rock formation was narrow and dangerous, and Wu's army only needed five thousand men to hold off Cao's tens of thousands of defeated troops. And this place was naturally occupied by Lu Xun who had already sent troops.

Just when Cao Zhen was desperate, Sima Yi, who had expected it, led an army of 30,000 land and water troops from the upper reaches and defeated the Wu army guarding Jia Shi. Cao Xiu was able to escape.

However, in this battle, Wu State still killed and captured more than 10,000 Cao Jun soldiers, and seized tens of thousands of cattle, horses, donkeys, mules, and vehicles, as well as almost all the military equipment of Cao Zhen's southern expedition.

But when Cao Pi, who was far away in Luoyang, heard about the defeat of the Southern Expedition, his body, which he had just recovered from, fell ill again and fell into a coma.

October
Zhuge Liang heard that Cao Han's southern expedition failed and he lost his troops and generals. He knew that the opportunity could not be missed and he would not come back again, so he decisively led his army to attack Xicheng again.

This time there were no reinforcements in Xicheng. After two months of continuous attack, Xicheng was captured by the Han army and the defender was killed.

Xuanwu four years
The fifth day of the first lunar month
The Han army attacked Shangyong and was blocked by the defender Meng Da.

Knowing that Sima Yi's army had returned to Xiangyang, Zhuge Liang led his army to retreat and fight again the next day.

March
Emperor Cao Pi of Korea passed away at the age of thirty-eight, and was given the posthumous title "Wen" by his ministers.

Before Cao Pi's death, he ordered Liu Ye, the general of the town army, Cao Zhen, the general of the Chinese army, Cao Xiu, the general of the Zhengdong army, and Sima Yi, the general of the Fu army, to accept the imperial edict and jointly assist the heir Cao Rui.

May
After Cao Pi's death, Meng Da, who had fallen out of favor, was once again attracted by Zhuge Liang and plotted to rebel against Han.

However, Meng Da kept delaying and made no move. Zhuge Liang was afraid that his words and deeds would be erratic and wanted to urge him to rebel quickly.

Knowing that Shen Yi, the prefect of Hanxing, had a conflict with him, he sent someone to Shen Yi to pretend to surrender, intending to reveal Meng Da's defection to the Han.

When Meng Da heard this leak, he was indeed ready to launch an army immediately. However, after Shen Yi reported the matter to Sima Yi, Sima Yi was afraid that Meng Da would suddenly attack, so he personally wrote to him with a letter of comfort:

"Now that the late emperor has passed away, the court is in chaos, so he has neglected the general. I heard that the general intends to defect to the Han. Isn't this a fantasy?
So he punished the person who framed him on the spot. If others don't know about the general, don't I know about it? Generals are loyal men. When the late Emperor was still here, he often told me about his talents and compared them with the heroes of the past.

The late emperor treated the general so well, how could the general abandon Korea?

General Kuang had betrayed the Han before, and Zhuge Liang wanted to drink the general's blood and eat the general's flesh, so how could he accept the general? Aren't you afraid that the general will do it again?

Therefore, I wrote this letter overnight to reassure the general and prevent villains from causing trouble and harming the interests of Korea. "

Meng Da was overjoyed, but he hesitated again.

At this time, Sima Yi was in Wancheng to put down the rebellion caused by Cao Pi's death.

After writing the letter, he ordered the troops to continue marching, and then he rushed from Wancheng to the Xiangyang army overnight with only a few cavalry. He personally led the army day and night to attack Mengda, and arrived at the gate of Xincheng in eight days.

May 20

Reinforcements from both Han and Wu countries were sent to rescue Mengda, but Sima Yi sent generals to block him at Anqiao, Mulansai and other places in the west city.

It was precisely with Wu Guo's letter of persuasion to surrender that Meng Da wavered and hesitated, expecting all parties to offer a higher price.

Previously, Zhuge Liang had written a letter warning Meng Da that Sima Yi was cunning and asked him to take precautions to avoid being attacked by Sima Yi.

But Mengda thought that Sima Yi would not easily attack an important person now that the three kingdoms were fighting against each other, so he wrote again:

"Wancheng is 900 miles away from Luoyang, 100 miles away from Xiangyang, and 1,200 miles away from me. The above table is given to the emperor. The round trip will take at least a month. By then, my city will have been repaired. The army was ready.

Moreover, the terrain where I am stationed is deep and dangerous. Sima Yi is in Wancheng to quell the rebellion at this time, so he will not come in person. As for other generals coming, it will not be a problem. "

Unexpectedly, Sima Yi, relying on his power to assist the government, killed first and then reported, and his troops came to the city in only eight days. At this time, Meng Da regretted his mistake and wrote to Zhuge Liang, who was closest to him, exclaiming:

"I want to take action, but Sima Yi's troops came to the city on the 8th. How fast! Sir, please help me quickly."

Shangyong City is surrounded by water on three sides. Mengda built a wooden fence outside the city to strengthen the city defense, making Shangyong City, which was already difficult to attack, even stronger.

On the day they arrived at Shangyong, Sima Yi sent his troops across the river, destroyed the wooden fence outside Shangyong City, and advanced directly to the city.

After two days of repairs, Sima Yi divided his 30,000 men into eight teams and attacked day and night from eight directions.

June 19

On the 16th, the pressure in the city increased sharply and the morale of the army was low. Mengda's nephew Deng Xian and his general Li Fu opened the city gate and surrendered. The Korean army entered the city and captured Mengda.

June 23
After receiving the news that Shangyong City had been defeated, the Han army fighting at Anqiao and the Wu army at Mulansai saw the failure of their military strategy and led their troops to retreat.

July
Mengda's head was reported to the capital. As the largest rebel army, he ended up like this. Rebellions in various places were quickly contained.

In this battle, Sima Yi captured more than 10,000 people and his prestige greatly increased.

Sima Yi returned to the army and remained stationed in Xiangyang. He encouraged farmers and mulberry trees and prohibited waste, which convinced the officials and people in the south.

Cao Rui granted Sima Yi the status of General of the Fu Army and Governor of Yijing, as well as Shi Zhong and Lu Shangshu Shi.

Back in Luoyang, Cao Rui asked Sima Yi, now that Han is surrounded by enemies on all sides, should he attack Zhao or Wu?

Sima Yi replied:

"Wu Guo thought that our northern soldiers were not used to water warfare, so they dared to disperse in Dongguan. As long as we attack the enemy, we must strangle the enemy's throat and hit their heart, and Xiakou and Dongguan are the heartthroats of Wu's army.

If we attack Wancheng on land, draw Sun Quan's troops eastward, send the navy to attack Xiakou, and take advantage of its weakness to attack, we will definitely defeat the Wu army. "

Cao Rui was convinced of his views and once again ordered Sima Yi to station troops in Xiangyang to prepare for war.

However, the great Sima Cao Xiu did not follow the plan and directly attacked the state of Wu with a large army, which ultimately led to a disastrous defeat and loss of prestige.

The four auxiliary ministers appointed by Cao Pi, including Liu Ye and Wenchen, did not control the military power. Cao Zhencai suffered a major defeat. Now that Cao Xiu has also lost his army and generals, it seems that the only one Cao Han can rely on is Sima Yi.

In addition, Sima Yi was added to Shi Zhong and Lu Shangshu Shi, and both military and political affairs were in control. Even Cao Rui could not act arbitrarily.

Different from the prime minister system of Zhao Han, Cao Han did not establish a prime minister. Instead, the Shangshutai was used as the department that issued edicts, and the nine ministers and all the Cao Cao were subject to its restrictions.

After Cao Pi ascended the throne, he saw that the power of the Shangshu Taiwan was too great, so he established the Zhongshu Taiwan to divide the power of the Shangshu Taiwan, so that the Shangshu Taiwan only had the power to issue edicts and execute orders.

Zhongshu Tai is responsible for drafting and reviewing edicts, and the responsible officer is Zhongshu Ling.

As Sima Yi was in charge of matters, he had the right to discuss strategies with Cao Rui, and he also recorded matters as a minister. That is to say, he could make decisions and implement them by himself, stamp his own seal, and execute them himself without having to go through the review of others.

Coupled with his military position as General of the Fu Army and controlling the military power of tens of thousands of troops stationed in Jingzhou, Sima Yi became more powerful day by day.

(End of this chapter)