Shu Chen

Chapter 209 Destroying Liao
Although the world claims to be a tripartite confrontation, in fact, the four sides rule the roost.

The existence of the Gongsun family in Liaodong has gone through three generations since the Gongsundu separatist regime, and it has always been an independent regime.Even when Wei Wu and Cao Cao were alive, they only made Gongsun's superficial surrender and could not interfere with half of Liaodong's affairs.

For example, when Gongsun Yuan seized the position of his uncle, Luoyang Cao Rui still had to pinch his nose and disregard etiquette, proclaiming to the world that Gongsun Yuan was the Lord of Liaodong.

Any monarch has the heart of conquest against such separatist forces that despise authority.

It's just that, with the strong enemies of Bashu and Dongwu, Cao Wei didn't need to use troops against the Gongsun family of Liaodong who appeared to be submissive, and he has tolerated it so far.

Nowadays, Liaodong has frequently hooked up with Soochow, making Cao Wei feel like a thorn in his throat, and he can't get rid of his unhappiness.

Selling horses and receiving the title of Soochow Wu is no longer the level of despising Wei's authority.

Wei Guo couldn't bear it, his opponent became stronger and more difficult to destroy because of Liaodong, and finally made up his mind to send troops to destroy it.

A deeper reason is Cao Rui's heart.

Cao Rui has been on the throne for nearly ten years. Not only did he not have any merits praised by the courtiers and Li Shu, but there were many secret accusations.

For example, Wei Wu and Cao Cao scattered all their wealth to recruit soldiers and horses, and lashed Yu Nei for more than [-] years, creating a huge foundation and consolidating the foundation of Cao Wei Daihan.In just a few years of Wei Wen Cao Pi's reign, he still relied on his strong national power to conquer Soochow three times. Although he was invincible, he never lost his territory.

But what about Cao Rui himself?

As soon as he succeeded to the throne, he was repeatedly attacked by Bashu and Eastern Wu. He did not fight almost every year, and lost countless soldiers and lost land.

Even the noble families who have benefited countless times are unwilling to rectify the name of Wei Guodai Hannai's destiny.

If there are no heirs, the reputation will still bear the mediocrity of the lord?
Can't even defend Chengdu?

Cao Rui could not accept such a result.

Liaodong jumped out to provoke at this moment, which made him think of "the lost east corner, the harvested mulberry elm".

Furthermore, if the Gongsun family is destroyed as desired, it can also deter other people who have different ideas.

Liaodong has recuperated for many years since Gongsundu's separatist rule, and its dense population can just make up for the loss of Longyou's war heritage, so that Cao Rui will not be ashamed of the foundations accumulated by Cao Cao and Cao Pi.

In fact, Cao Rui discussed in private with his confidantes a long time ago about the conquest of Liaodong.

This person is Wu Qiujian.

Wenxi from Hedong, whose father was Guanqiu Xing, the former prefect of Wuwei, fought against Zhang Ji, the governor of Liangzhou many times, and conquered Qiang Hu. He was an important minister of Cao Wei.Because of this, Guan Qiujian was appointed by Wei Wen Cao Pi as a "literary master", and he accompanied Cao Rui to study and cultivate virtue with Wei Zhen and others, and he was a minister of Qiandi.

He is passionate about literature, has a strategy in mind, and does not want to enjoy the nobles in the court.

The current post of governor of Jingzhou is what he wanted to conquer for Wei, so he personally asked Cao Rui for it.

And when he asked Cao Rui whether he could conquer Liaodong, he not only strongly agreed, but also added a sentence, "Since your Majesty ascended the throne, there is nothing to write about."

With the posthumous reputation of Wenzhiwugong, Cao Rui no longer hesitated.

Therefore, when Sima Yi secretly led [-] troops to set off from Youbeiping this time, Guanqiu Jian served as the court envoy and took more than a thousand imperial guards to Liaodong, where he rewarded Gongsun Yuan who killed the envoy of Soochow.

These more than a thousand imperial guards are the key to Sima Yi's follow-up army's victory.

This is related to Gongsun Yuan's strength, the terrain and climate of Liaodong.

Although the Liaodong separatist regime has gone through three generations, its strength is still vulnerable compared to that of Wei.But Liaodong is more than [-] (Han) miles away from Luoyang. If Wei Guo wants to conquer, the long journey and supply line are Wei's opponents.

And there are only two routes.

One is to take the sea route from Qingzhou.

The road is very short, and the wind and waves are very small. During the reign of Emperor Ling, countless Qingzhou scholars were sent to Liaodong by sea to escape the war.

But landing on the beach is difficult to achieve.

Liaodong's navy is no worse than Wei's.

A large-scale fleet approached Liaodong, Gongsun Yuan set up defenses along the beach, and then attacked with the navy, Wei Guo had little chance of winning the beach and landing.

The other is the Banhai Road along the Liaoxi Corridor in Youzhou.

As the name suggests, Bankaido is a road that walks along the sea.

This road is also difficult to walk, mainly due to climate issues.

For example, when Wei Wu Cao Cao chased Karasuma to Liucheng, he originally planned to cross the Bankai Road in July, but in the rainy season the road was muddy and impassable.

I had no choice but to cross Yanshan Mountain on an endless road, and only reached Bailang Mountain in August.

And when I returned to the teacher, it was the middle of winter, not only was it freezing cold, but also there was no water or food.

In the end, he had to kill horses for food and dig ground to get water to tide over the difficulties. Guo Jia, who was with the army, also fell ill and died.

Sima Yi learned this lesson this time. He set off from Youbeiping in spring and March, and arrived in Liaoshui (the dividing line between Cao Wei and Gongsun) just before June. Avoid the severe winter and return to the teacher.

He is sure that Gongsun Yuan will be wiped out within a hundred days.

This is not because Sima Yi is arrogant.

Instead, Gongsun Yuan owns four counties under the rule of Gongsun Yuan, namely Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, and Daifang County. In terms of strength, they cannot resist Cao Wei anyway.

His only chance of winning is to have a timely insight into the attack of the Wei army, and have enough time to abandon the two counties of Liaodong and Xuantu, and go to Lelang and Daifang two counties (Korean Peninsula) to avoid the battle.Let the Wei army's supply line be longer and delay the time until winter, so that the cold weather will reduce the Wei army's combat power and make it impossible to continue attacking.

After all, with Bashu and Soochow watching over him, it is impossible for Sima Yi to stay in Liaodong forever.

Once winter came, without him making a decision, Luoyang Cao Rui issued an order to withdraw his troops.

If Gongsun Yuan intends to stick to Xiangping (government office), or rely on the boundary line between the two sides to deploy defenses on the Liaoshui River, relying on the Liao Tunnel to keep the enemy out of the country, it would be tantamount to waiting for death.

Of course, in Sima Yi's inference to Cao Rui, he believed that Gongsun Yuan was a dog guarding the house, and it was impossible to give up Liaodong and Xuantu County.

He felt that Gongsun Yuan was reluctant.

Or in other words, no matter who it is, they will not be willing.

The population and resources of Liaodong and Xuantu counties are much more abundant than those of Lelang and Daifang counties.

If Gongsun Yuan gave up, it would be tantamount to losing the support of the local scholars and his own foundation.

Therefore, Liaosui City, an important town above the Liaoshui River, the dividing line between the two sides, became the decisive point of this conquest.

If Gongsun Yuan can hold Liaosui City, Sima Yi will have nothing to do; but if Sima Yi breaks Liaosui City, Gongsun Yuan who is trapped in Xiangping City will become a turtle in the urn.

This is why Cao Rui asked Guan Qiujian to go with more than a thousand guards.

Guan Qiujian traveled by sea.

There are dozens of ships, all of which are large ships for transportation.

With these ships, if Sima Yi was unable to break through Liaosui City, he would use a dangerous strategy to transport soldiers and horses from Liaoshui to bypass Liaosui City to kill Xiangping City and directly attack Huanglong.

Anyway, the ships used for transportation have no combat power.

As long as it is claimed that these ships were sent by the dignitaries of Luoyang in Wei State to purchase rare items in Liaodong, Gongsun Yuan will not be alerted.

This kind of scheduling is really useful.

When Guanqiujian took the fleet to Liaodong County, when he walked the Liaoshui River to Liaosui City, he found that the city was indestructible.

Previously, when Gongsun Yuan sent people to ask Sun Wu for a reward, he was ready for the Wei army to conquer.

The location of Liaosui City, the Central Continent before the confluence of the Daliao River and the Xiao Liao River, was originally a place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack.And now the defenders are still outside Liaosui City, digging more than 40 (Han) trenches to divert water into it, becoming an "island within an island".

With such a geographical advantage, coupled with the high morale of the guard Bei Yan and more than [-] soldiers and horses, it is tantamount to fantasy for the Wei army to break through.

Even if the soldiers are all dead, it will take several months or even a year to break through.

Wei Jun did not have such sufficient time.

Therefore, when Guan Qiujian arrived in Liaosui City, he sent someone privately to inform Sima Yi who was coming, and then pretended to be unaccustomed to the disease.The imperial edict, which had been stamped with the emperor's seal long ago, was entrusted to Gongsun Yuan, who was sent by the guard Bei Yan to Xiangping City.

Moreover, the more than a thousand soldiers who accompanied him were all camped outside the city, so as to avoid the suspicion of deliberately staying in the city to plot wrongdoing.

It also made Bei Yan not doubt that there was him.

Mainly at this juncture, no one would have thought that Cao Wei would send troops to attack.

And Wei Guo did a good job of covering up the superficial kung fu.

In Cao Rui's imperial edict, Gongsun Yuan was awarded the title of Duke Yan, and many things that were forbidden in the palace were also rewarded.

When Guan Qiujian was sick and lying in bed, he also handed over the list of items to Bei Yan who came to visit, and sincerely asked him for help to collect the rare items that the rich and powerful in Luoyang wanted to buy.

Even the remuneration was paid in advance.

In this situation, who would doubt others?

Under the deception, Sima Yi's army arrived smoothly.

The vanguard general Niu Jin led the front and went directly to the city, before Bei Yan realized it.

While lighting a beacon to warn, at the same time organizing soldiers to resist.

But it was too late.

With the support of more than a thousand soldiers from Guanqiujian, Niu Jin led the army to capture all the barracks outside Liaosui City.

Fortunately, Bei Yan was quite decisive.

Seeing that the siege that fell against the city was unable to resist, he broke it off as soon as possible. Regardless of many of his own soldiers who had not yet entered the fortress, he ordered the city gate to be closed.

It avoided Wei Jun's plan to follow the rout and rush into the city.

The price is that four out of ten troops have been lost.

However, for the Liaodong Army, defeat in the battle is not terrible.

As long as Liaosui City is not lost, they can defend the city by themselves. With more than [-] troops relying on solid city defenses and sufficient food, fodder and ordnance, it is no problem to delay the Wei army here for two or three months.

After fighting for these few months, Gongsun Yuan in Xiangping City can be prepared to stand firm.

Such as destroying houses, relocating Lishu's strong walls and clearing the fields.

As long as the Wei army that has crossed the Liaoshui River cannot supply supplies on the spot, and there is no house to shelter from rain and snow, they will automatically retreat in winter.

But Sima Yi did not storm the city.

After the leading army arrived, they didn't delay for a moment, crossed the Liaoshui River in boats, and headed for Xiangping City in a mighty way.

As for taking a detour, will the soldiers and horses in Liaosui City take the back road and cut off the grain road?
No need to worry.

He assigned [-] soldiers to Guanqiu Jian, and asked him to join forces with [-] soldiers to stay outside Liaosui City and watch.

And Sima Yi also played a game of breaking the boat.

After crossing the Liao River, he ordered all ships to be cut through the sinking river.

Gathered the crowd and swore, saying: "If the rebel Gongsun Yuan is not destroyed, we will all die in Liaodong! Gentlemen, we have traveled thousands of miles, and there is no way out! We have made great achievements today, and we must fight to the death!"

It also made the soldiers of the Wei army fight to the death, and their morale was like a rainbow.

On the other hand, Gongsun Yuan planted the seeds of failure because of the unequal military situation he learned.

At first, when Bei Yan, the confidant guarding Liaosui City, sent someone to deliver Cao Rui's edict, he was very happy, and he had a feast of wine that night.I didn't expect any changes in Wei Jun, nor did I gather soldiers.

On the contrary, he also sent many military officials to other places to rush around for the items that the powerful and powerful in Luoyang of Wei State wanted to buy!

When Beiyan sent people to Liaosui City to be attacked, he turned pale with fright, and even made a foolish trick under his anger.

He handed over half of the troops in Xiangping City and more than [-] cavalry to another confidant general Yang Zuo, who rushed to support Liaosui City.

Among them, there are about [-] horsemen among the more than [-] horsemen. They are from the Jiubu and Karasuma who followed the Yuan Shang brothers into Liaodong in the past.

These five thousand paces sounded the clarion call that the situation in Liaodong was over.

When Yang Zuo led them in a hurry, he happened to bump into Sima Yi's headquarters who had crossed the Liao River.The strength of the two sides was not equal, and the morale of the Wei army was high, so Yang Zuo was inevitably defeated by one touch.

Coincidentally, although Sima Yi came to Liaodong among the soldiers and horses, there was Karasuma Tuqi who migrated to Jizhou from the former Wei Wu Cao Cao.

When the Wei army defeated Yang Zuo, they surrendered as people of the same clan, and all the five thousand cavalry turned against them on the spot.Anyway, the Gongsun family was the enemy who killed their old masters Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, and after they annexed them, they have never been polite to them, and there is no psychological pressure to defect.

Even the chief general Yang Zuo surrendered when he saw that there was nothing he could do.

The rest is easy.

The army of the State of Wei, who had taken in the captives, could not meet resistance when they drove all the way to Xiangping City.

At this time, Gongsun Yuan hadn't recruited many soldiers from other counties!

Feeling that he could not resist and the situation was over, he sent envoys to beg for surrender to Sima Yi, claiming that he was willing to send his son Gongsunxiu to Luoyang as a hostage, and let the Wei army station in Liaosui City, and let Luoyang appoint the officials and assistants of the four counties of Liaodong.

But how could Sima Yi, who had traveled thousands of miles, allow him to surrender?
Even the envoy was not in the mood to see him, so he ordered his head to be chopped off and let the deputy envoy take it back.

Then he ordered the soldiers of all the ministries to besiege the city and build mounds, build siege towers and set up thunder chariots, ready to attack the city.

Such an attitude caused chaos in the army in the city.

When Gongsun Yuan saw the envoy's head, he knew that Sima Yi was planning to exterminate himself, and also knew that the city could not be defended with such a small force.

In other words, he was worried that after a few days, his subordinates would have their heads chopped off and surrendered.

Therefore, while the Wei army had not completely besieged the city, he and his son Gongsun Xiu, escorted by hundreds of cavalry guards, rushed out from the south gate and fled to Lelang County.

It's a pity that Sima Yi sent cavalry to catch up and punish him halfway.

The Liaodong Gongsun family, which had ruled the roost for decades, was wiped out.

(End of this chapter)