Three Kingdoms: Ancestors of the Han Dynasty

"Abandoning Hefei? Could it be that Manqing is joking?"

Cao Rui, who was kneeling on the couch, couldn't believe his ears, and asked back.

Soochow's operations have always relied on water troops, and they can fight by water but not on land. Therefore, the Northern Expedition of Soochow relied heavily on waterways, especially those that can communicate with the Yangtze River, Huaihe River and even penetrate into the Central Plains.Among these waterways, there are three in total, namely the Zhongdu River in the east, the Ruxu River in the middle, and the Han River in the west.

Hanshui needs to occupy Xiangyang all the way to use it, but Xiangyang is in the hands of Cao Wei from beginning to end, so Hanshui is naturally not available.

The Zhongdu River, named Hangou in ancient times, connects the waterways of the Yangtze River Basin near Guangling and the Huaihe River Basin. However, due to the strong winds and rough waves at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the weather is unpredictable, and it is too affected by seasonal factors, so it cannot be navigable all year round.Cao Pi suffered a lot when he walked through the Zhongdu River in his southern expedition.

Therefore, the Ruxu water in the middle road enters Shishui through Chaohu Lake in the north, and then enters Huaihe River through Feishui.The Soochow navy can enter the Huaihe River from the Yangtze River, which can not only exert the power of its navy, but also guarantee logistics.

For Cao Wei, due to the weakness of his navy, it is not feasible to attack Wu from the south of Xiangyang.Therefore, Cao Cao marched south many times, all of them marched south from Ruxushui on the middle road, starting from Hefei, passing through Chaohu Lake, and storming Ruxuwu.

The biggest advantage of this route is that it can advance both land and water. It can not only take advantage of the land warfare advantages of the Wei army, but also transport military rations by ship.

Ruxushui became the only way for Wu and Wei to attack each other.Soochow set up Ruxu Governor at Ruxukou, and Cao Wei stood firm on Hefei City above Chaohu Lake.Perhaps everyone remembers that Sun Quan's conquest of Hefei was unfavorable several times, but they forget that Cao Cao attacked Ruxuwu four times in the south, but all of them returned without success.

The battle of Dongxing between Wei and Wu in the future also took place in the Ruxushui area.To put it simply, most of Wu Wei's war history revolved around the Ruxushui area.

Therefore, when Manchong abandons Hefei, it means abandoning the Ruxushui River, and the Soochow Navy will be able to go to Shouchun, an important town in the Huaihe River Basin, through the Ruxushui without any scruples.Once Shouchun is breached, it means that Soochow will be able to drink horses from the Yellow River through Surabaya.Therefore, it is not surprising that Cao Rui was so surprised.

"Exactly!" Man Chong said solemnly.

Cao Rui let out a deep breath. He knew that Man Chong, who was the highest military officer on the Eastern Front of Cao Wei, would definitely not lose everything, and there must be an internal reason for what he said.A few years ago, when he proposed to build a new city in Hefei, it can be seen that Man Chong has a long-term military vision.

However, Cao Rui still reminded: "In the past, the Emperor Wu used Qishan, Xiangyang, and Hefei to curb the Northern Expedition of Wu and Shu. Hefei is the most important thing on the Eastern Front. Manqing should be careful!"

Man Chong stood up and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have been guarding the Eastern Front for nearly 20 years, and have fought Wu people more than ten times. Naturally, I know the importance of Hefei. It's just a matter of military strategists, which changes rapidly, so don't stick to it. Wu Wu The emperor erected Qishan Fort, intending to hold back the Northern Expedition of the Shu rebels, but unexpectedly Zhuge Liang's strategy of attacking the west from the east was all based in Longyou. Therefore, the minister thought that things in the east might wait for the time to change."

Sima Yi straightened his back slightly, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Yi thinks Manchu's words are not unreasonable, and the situation is changing rapidly today. If Your Majesty wants to retreat from Wu and concentrate on Shu, you might as well listen to Manchu's advice and make a decision."

"It's okay to say nothing." Cao Rui raised his hand and said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Man Chong said respectfully, "I would like to show you the map of Huainan to illustrate the depth of your troops."

"On the map."

Soon after Cao Rui ordered, the attendants replaced the map of Huainan centered on Hefei and Shouchun on the palace wall.

Everyone rushed to the front of the picture, Man Chong took the thin stick, looked at Jiang Ji, Xu Xuan, Sima Yi and others who were swarming continuously, cupped his hands and said, "If Chong has something inappropriate, I hope you can give me advice. "

"Don't dare~"

Holding a thin stick, Man Chong pointed to Hefei on the map and said: "Although Hefei is heavy, it is not as good as it used to be today. During the chaotic war at the end of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu sent Liu Gong (Liu Fu) to build an empty city alone, and Hefei flourished." Rehabilitation, combined with 200,000 people around. But after the Red Cliff, the army was overthrown, and the Wu people invaded Hefei. The General of Zhengdong was stationed in Hefei, Zhang Liao, Le Jin, Li Dian and [-] elite soldiers.

"However, the Chinese army was stationed in Yecheng and was tired of things. Therefore, in the 18th year of Jian'an (AD 213), Emperor Wu wanted to move the people in the south of Xuzhou and Yangzhou, but unexpectedly, there were more than ten people in Lujiang, Jiujiang, Chun and Guangling. Tens of thousands of people crossed the river to the east to join Wu. There were hundreds of miles between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River, and only Hefei and Wancheng remained. The next year, Sun Quan seized Anhui, and Hefei was the front line."

The leading general Jiang Ji nodded slightly. At that time, Cao Cao didn't listen to his suggestion, causing more than [-] people to defect to Soochow.

"The imperial court thought it was difficult to garrison troops in Hefei, so after the fourth year of Huangchu (223 A.D.), the imperial court changed the general who conquered the East to stay in Shouchun, and the main force of the soldiers moved northward in Shouchun. Once there is a change in Hefei on the eastern front, the Chinese army can pass through Xuchang. , arrived in Shouchun, and rescued Hefei in the south."

"Since the old minister guarded Huainan, Hefei has been an isolated city for hundreds of miles. The Wu people often harassed and besieged it, and it was very difficult to dispatch the army. The old minister Fang Shangshu proposed to rebuild the new city of Hefei and abandon the old city of Hefei."

Man Chong told Cao Rui and the core ministers about the changes in the importance of Hefei, especially emphasizing that the area around Hefei is uninhabited, and that Hefei is just an isolated city with only military functions left.

Cao Rui frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Seeing that Cao Rui was in a hurry, Man Chong pointed to the vast plains in the south of Shouchun, and said, "Your Majesty, Sun Quan's northern expedition to Hefei was just to take Hefei. He traveled to the Huai River in Ruxushui to enter the Central Plains. But the area around Shouchun is flat and unobstructed. It is beneficial for our great Wei cavalry to move freely, and if we can give up the land of Hefei, it will attract Sun Quan's army to go north."

Man Chong knocked on the southern suburbs of Shouchun, and said in a deep voice: "Our country took the opportunity to mobilize troops from the Central Plains such as Xuzhou, Yuzhou, and Yanzhou to surround the Wu army from left to right, and to perform an act of embarrassment on all sides, which will wipe out the Eastern Wu army in the south of Shouchun. At that time, the people of Wu will no longer be responsible for the disaster of the southern part of our Great Wei, and then our Great Wei will be able to concentrate on dealing with Western Shu."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone present was shocked.They heard the meaning of Man Chong's strategy, which was to abandon Hefei, attract Wu people to go north, and use Wei Qi's raid to encircle Sun Quan's northward army on the flat Huainan Plain.

Once this strategy is successful, Wu's army will suffer heavy losses, and with Wu's strength, Sun Quan will not be able to go north again without more than ten years of recuperation.Then Cao Wei can concentrate on competing with Xishu who occupies Guanzhong, and Xishu who has lost foreign aid will have to compete with the Wei people who occupy the Central Plains alone.

Cao Rui's heart was beating violently, and he had to admit that Man Chong's plan moved his heart.However, what Man Chong said is only an ideal state, and there are a lot of details to be confirmed.What if Sun Quan didn't go north, or the number of Soochow's Northern Expeditionary Army was not large, wouldn't it be a waste of effort.

As a great general, Sima Yi was the first to ask: "How did Man Zhengdong think that Sun Quan would definitely fall into the trap? You must know that my enemy of the Great Wei is not only Eastern Wu, but also Western Shu. If the army is deployed in the east, then Western Shu will take advantage of the situation." If you enter, the east of the river will be in danger!"

If Man Chong's plan is followed, Hedong's defense will be weakened.After all, it is impossible for Wei's army to set up an ambush in Shouchun all the time, waiting for the Wu people to attack.The attack of the Wu people is uncertain, especially if Hefei is given up, the Wu people will be able to go north at will and harass Shouchun.