Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 446 Cao Pi is delighted, singing and dancing
"Hahahahaha."

At the end of July in the seventh year of Zhangwu in Han Dynasty and the eighth year of Wei Huangchu, in Chenliu County, Chenliu County, Cao Pi was in the temporary palace.

The news of Liu Bei's death has been announced to the world, and Cao Pi soon learned of the news.

At this moment, he looked up to the sky and laughed loudly in the palace, as if the emotions he had accumulated for a long time were instantly released at this moment, and the pressure all over his body was also relieved.

Cao Pi sat on the main seat, looked at the officials below with a smile on his face, and said, "Liu Bei is finally dead, cough cough."

He also coughed twice.

Last year, he suffered from some minor illnesses. Historically, the grass on his grave was three feet high, but he is still alive now.

The main reason is that Liu Bei and Shen Chen have put pressure on him in recent years, so that he has no intention of continuing to indulge in sensuality and self-indulgence all day long, and instead prolongs his lifespan by two years.

However, indulging in sensuality in the early years still made his foundation worse. Coupled with worrying about the situation in the south, even though serious illnesses did not occur, minor illnesses continued.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations to Your Majesty, the enemy is dead, and there will be no hindrance to sweeping the south."

"That's right, Your Majesty, once Liu Bei dies, there may be great chaos in the south. If you send troops at this time, they will surely be wiped out."

"This is because His Majesty has God's blessing. After Liu Bei's death, those aristocratic families in the south who have been suppressed by Liu Bei may revolt. This is our chance."

Many courtiers expressed their congratulations.

Liu Bei's prestige is very high. After becoming emperor in the south, he is almost on a par with Cao Cao in fame, and he can be described as a generation of pride.

In particular, his reputation in the north is not bad, and the people at the bottom love him very much.

Therefore, in the battle with the Han army, Cao Jun suffered repeated defeats. In addition, Shen Chen, Guan Yu and others were brave and good at fighting, Cao Jun suffered big losses in Guanzhong and Huainan.

But now with Liu Bei's death, just like the shock in the north when Cao Cao died, there will definitely be chaos in the south.

Therefore, many officials believed that they could send troops to the south to pacify the land of Jing Yiyang.

Cao Pi thinks so too.

At the beginning, the strategy was to consume, exhaust the national strength of the south, and exhaust Liu Bei to death, so when not to take advantage of this opportunity now?
But in the midst of all the praises, Cao Pi noticed that Sima Yi was the only one who remained silent, so he asked, "Zhongda, Liu Bei is dead now, aren't you happy?"

Sima Yi said: "I am naturally happy, but I feel that now is probably not a good time to go south."

"Ok?"

Cao Pi frowned and said, "Why, Zhong Da said that once Liu Bei died, he would rule the world, why did it change now?"

Sima Yi sighed and said: "At this time and then at that time, we hadn't lost Huainan in Guanzhong at that time. If we stick to it until now, the food and grass in the south will be empty, the people will be exhausted, and the morale will be low. In addition, Liu Bei's death will weaken the morale of the army. It is indeed a good time to go south. But now "

"How is it now?"

Cao Pi asked.

Sima Yi said: "Now that Guanzhong and Huainan have been lost, we have to attack Chang'an and Hefei to continue advancing. The morale in the south is declining, but our morale is not too high. Sending troops to attack the city is really a bad idea."

With the loss of Guanzhong and Huainan, not to mention that their road to march was blocked, the morale of the Han army would not fall to the bottom because of the victory.

What's more, their strategy of consuming the national power of the south has failed, and their own national power has also been consumed a lot.

Under the ebb and flow, the food supplies and morale of the two sides are actually in a similar situation.

Even if Liu Bei is dead and there is chaos in the south, it will be very difficult for them to forcibly attack Nanyang and other places.

After all, the morale of the Han army was low because of Liu Bei's death, but if they lost the battle, how high would their morale be?
Therefore, Sima Yi is actually not optimistic about launching a full-scale counterattack while Liu Bei is dead.

Hearing his words, Cao Pi pondered for a while, and said, "What does Zhong Da mean?"

Sima Yi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, once Liu Bei dies, I predict that the Han army in Henan will retreat. I believe that we should also withdraw the main force, leaving only half of our troops, and focus on retaking Huainan and Guanzhong first."

"Why?"

Cao Pi asked.

Sima Yi said: "Your Majesty, the enemy has the ability to replenish food and grass nearby in Nanyang. If they send troops to Nanyang, they will have a large number of cavalry, and it is almost impossible to rob food. The number of soldiers and horses on both sides is about the same, and it is almost impossible to accomplish all in one battle."

"As a result, directly marching troops from Henan to resist and rush forward is a waste of national power. Instead, we go to attack, laborious and expeditionary, and the gains outweigh the losses."

"Only in Huainan and Guanzhong are the enemies traveling long distances. Now they have started farming in Chang'an and Hefei. If we let them cultivate the land in Chang'an and Hefei, then we will lose the advantage of waiting for work."

"At that time, Shen Chen and Guan Yu will be able to rely on Guanzhong and Huainan as food and grass supply places, and harass Bingzhou, Runan, and Guangling. This is already at a disadvantage for us."

"So the Henan direction can not be in a hurry to attack, but Guanzhong and Huainan must be taken back, and no matter how bad they are, their farms must be destroyed to prevent them from taking food on the spot."

"And now that Shen Chen and Guan Yu have returned to Xiangyang, there is no leader on the front line. It is a good time to make progress. When the south gets the news that we are attacking the east and west, they will definitely send reinforcements to rescue them. Their soldiers and horses will be mobilized. Nanyang's defense force may be much less."

"At that time, we can rely on the advantage of having a large number of cavalry, gallop across the land of Nanyang, harass the cultivation of Nanyang, and affect the grain output in the south. Only by weakening them step by step can we truly wipe out the south in one fell swoop in the future."

At the end, Sima Yi's face was already very serious.

The confrontation between the north and the south in the Han, Wei, and Wei Dynasties seemed to be evenly matched in terms of national strength.There is not much difference in the strength of the troops, and the size is also similar. It is already difficult to determine the outcome in one more battle.

It's as if Zhao State suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Changping, but Qin State also won miserably. After the war, Qin State could not annex Zhao State.

What's more, the two sides are still in a period of confrontation.

Therefore, in terms of strategy, Cao Wei should choose a better strategy to consume the enemy's national power, so as to occupy the strategic initiative.

Originally a stalemate in Henan, Huainan in Guanzhong took advantage of the lack of people for thousands of miles to turn the Han army into an expedition of labor divisions. They waited for work with leisure, which was a completely correct strategy. When the army goes south, Liting has an opportunity to sweep the hole.

It's a pity that Shen Chen and Guan Yu couldn't stand up too fiercely, and actually defeated Chang'an and Hefei within a year, causing them to lose their strategic initiative. Then, in terms of overall strategy, Sima Yi had to consider whether he could win the battle again.

The answer is obviously not likely.

Therefore, the strategy needs to be re-deployed. Sima Yi believes that after losing Guanzhong and Huainan, it is impossible to attack again.

But Liu Bei died at the pass where he didn't do anything, so he would be too passive, not to mention that he couldn't just watch the Han army manage Guanzhong and Huainan.

Therefore, Sima Yi felt that there was a truce in the middle road, and the east and west lines continued to fight. At this time, because of Liu Bei's death, Shen Chen and Guan Yu left the front line and returned to Xiangyang. Without the backbone, the combat effectiveness of the Han army would inevitably be affected.

If they can seize Guanzhong and Huainan immediately by taking advantage of the speed of their troops, they will be able to regain the strategic initiative.

It doesn't matter if you don't get it back.

After hearing the news from Xiangyang, they will definitely send Shen Chen and Guan Yu to rescue them separately, so that the defense of the Nanyang area in the middle will be weak. Perhaps at that time, they can also take advantage of the large number of cavalry in the Northern Caowei court to attack the Nanyang area. Certain harassment.

So to sum up, Sima Yi wanted to kill two birds with one stone. If he could not take advantage of Liu Bei's death and the situation in the south was unstable, he would at least take advantage of it and take back the lost land.

This is better than the unfavorable situation they are in now.

After listening to Sima Yi's words, Cao Pi thought for a while, then turned to look at Chen Qun and said, "Changwen, what do you think?"

Chen Qun thought for a while and said, "I think Zhong Da's words are not wrong. If Zhuge Liang had been fine before Ping Nanzhong, after Ping Nanzhong, even if Liu Bei died, the general situation in the south would still be difficult to immediately become turbulent."

"Isn't there Sun Quan?"

Cao Pi was puzzled and said: "We have already contacted Sun Quan, and there are many aristocratic families in Jiangdong who are willing to send troops. As long as there are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to cooperate with Cao Xiu, can I win Jiangdong first?"

Sima Yi replied: "I'm afraid it will be difficult. Sun Quan is indeed our first mover, but he himself has small thoughts about returning to Jiangdong. If we attack Guan Yu with us, we will just sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, waiting for us to decide the result. Therefore, Sun Quan can only use the situation to cause chaos in the rear of Jiangdong, and cannot pin his hopes on him."

"good."

Chen Qun also said: "What's more, Sun Quan is still in Xiangyang. Although Liu Bei is newly dead, if we send troops, maybe he can escape in the chaos. But with Liu Bei's current prestige in Jiangdong, even if he returns to Jiangdong, the people may not be sure. They will follow him to create chaos, so I think that, as Zhong Da said, we should not pin our hopes on Sun Quan."

"I heard that the Jiangdong people are all grateful to Liu Bei, but the Jiangdong family hates Liu Bei deeply. If you look at it this way, Jiangdong's uprising force is at most tens of thousands of the family, and the Shanyue people have always expressed their submission to Liu Bei."

"Yeah, if you think about it this way, then Sun Quan must not be able to turn around any troubles. It may be impossible to use his hands to make the south more chaotic."

"However, if you can use him to take Huainan first, and then threaten Jiangdong, that would be great."

"Makes sense."

Next, Dong Zhao, Jiang Ji, Liu Ye and others expressed their opinions.

They all thought that Sun Quan could not turn a storm.

The main reason is that the people in Jiangdong are no longer of one mind with Sun Quan.

In the past, Sun Quan could control the people through the aristocratic family in Jiangdong, so as to collect soldiers, horses, food and grass.

But now Jiangdong's production relations have changed.

It turned out that most of the people in Jiangdong were controlled by the aristocratic family, but the aristocratic family fought too many defeats with Sun Quan, causing serious consumption.

Then Liu Bei occupied Jiangdong, threatened the Jiangdong family to hand over the population land, and launched some purges.

In order to save their lives, the Jiangdong family can only cooperate. As a result, they can't control so many people now, and the people don't need to rely on the face of the family to live.

Under such circumstances, who would follow Sun Quan to rebel?

Therefore, Cao Pi's advisers all believed that even if Sun Quan returned to Jiangdong now, at most he would join forces with some Jiangdong families who were dissatisfied with Liu Bei's robbing their population and land.

With the current remaining strength of the Jiangdong family, the strength of the army will probably not exceed [-], and most of them are mobs, so the strength will not be too high.

In this case, Sun Quan's role is obviously much smaller.

But since we can't use Sun Quan's help and let Cao Wei take the opportunity to occupy Jiangdong, we can still take advantage of Sun Quan's civil strife and when Guan Yu has to return to the army to suppress the rebellion, it is not bad to recapture Huainan.

Guan Yu spent a year in Hefei, consuming a lot of national power in the south, and then snatched it back, and continued to involve a third of the Han army with a small number of troops. This deal is very cost-effective.

Hearing everyone's opinions, Cao Pi pondered for a while, then nodded and said, "Well, what Zhong Da said is reasonable, so we should act according to what Zhong Da said."

Sima Yi rolled his eyes, and suddenly said: "Your Majesty, if the South withdraws its troops, it may not be appropriate to attack Huainan and Guanzhong immediately. The South will not be vigilant, and it will not be good if the defense of Chang'an and Hefei is stepped up at that time." .”

"Oh?"

Cao Pi poked his head out and asked, "What's Zhongda's plan?"

Sima Yi said: "Your Majesty can send envoys to condolence Liu Bei, and is willing to strike with them, and then withdraw the troops back to Luoyang, singing and dancing all day long. After Zhuge Liang heard about it, he must think that we will not go south again. When the time comes, they will relax their vigilance. , and suddenly joined forces with Sun Quan to attack Huainan."

"Wonderful."

Dong Zhao Fuxu said: "Take Huainan first, and the south will immediately send troops and horses down the river to rescue Guan Yu. At this time, Chang'an will be isolated and helpless. If we send the main force to take Chang'an directly, we may gain an advantage in the east and west."

"good."

Sima Yi nodded and said: "As long as we can severely damage the troops of Shen Chen and Guan Yu, then we can still gain the upper hand. Now that Liangzhou and Hanzhong are in the hands of the South, even if we regain Chang'an, it is impossible for us to continue to march into Bashu, so I think , the center of gravity should be placed in Huainan, taking advantage of the chaos in Jiangdong, we must let the south fall into a state that cannot rest for a moment."

"I understand Zhongda's meaning."

Cao Pi nodded, and said with a smile: "Zhongda asked to learn from Liu Bang, and secretly built the plank road to hide in Chen Cang, so as to show that I have no intention of going east, so as to deceive Zhuge Liang?"

Liu Bang was named King of Han, and Hanzhong became his fiefdom.In order to paralyze Xiang Yu, Liu Bang burned down the plank road in Hanzhong, singing and dancing all day long, making Xiang Yu think that he had no intention of leaving Guanzhong, so he went north to attack Qi State at ease, but Liu Bang took the opportunity to go out of Chencang to take Guanzhong, and finally swept the world and established the Great Han .

Sima Yi said: "Only by making the south feel that His Majesty has no intention of continuing to mobilize troops, can we relax our vigilance. At the critical moment, once Sun Quan launches a rebellion, the enemy's attention will be on Huainan, and that is when we march."

"okay."

Cao Pi nodded approvingly and said, "Then I will learn from Liu Bang. Since we want to sing, dance, and feast, why do we need to go back to Luoyang? Come, let's sing and dance!"

"Sing and dance!"

As the attendant shouted, the kabuki girl who was hiding behind came out and performed a dance.

At the same time, the banquets were served one after another, and food and drinks were placed on everyone's tables.

a time.

The whole house became peaceful, and Yinggeyan danced.

(End of this chapter)