Wei Ni

However, Xiahou Hui hurried back to find Guanqiu Jian to discuss strategy again because he felt that his side had no chance of winning.

This is not him belittling himself or destroying his own prestige, but rather seeking truth from facts.

You know, in history, the army that Emperor Cao Rui gave to Sima Yi was 40,000 troops in Luoyang!

This does not include the 30,000 to 40,000 Youzhou border troops led by Deputy General Guanqiu Jian! Moreover, the premise is that Guanqiu Jian had already failed in his expedition to Liaodong once, and he had figured out the road conditions of Banhai Road and Gongsun Yuan's deployment in Liaosui.

In a sense, Guanqiu Jian's failure tested out all the unfavorable factors for Sima Yi.

And now?

Guanqiu Jian, who had never set foot in Liaodong and had never experienced failure, was very optimistic about the war and thought that Youzhou's 30,000 infantry and cavalry could sweep across Liaodong.

Moreover, Xiahou Hui only had more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry under his command.

Among them, only 6,000 are the elite Luoyang Central Army. For example, the 5,000-strong Huyue Camp led by my second brother Xiahou Ba is not as strong as the border troops of Youzhou!
The weather and terrain were not favorable to us, our forces were outnumbered, and we had to travel thousands of miles to fight...

Apart from the "loss of food" tactic proposed by Liaoxi Governor Fu Rong, Xiahou Hui really couldn't think of any other tactics that could ensure victory in the war.

After hurrying all the way, they finally returned to the Jieshi Mountain outpost military camp.

Before Xiahou Hui had time to drink a sip of water, Ding Mi told him that Guanqiu Jian was also in a hurry to find him.

Moreover, he is now in Youbeiping County. If Ding Mi sees Xiahou Hui returning, he should send someone to tell him. He will come to meet him in the name of inspecting the construction of the military camp outside Guzhu City.

Guanqiu Jian, who was so busy that he had no time to spare, actually came all the way to find him, so there must be something going on.

Therefore, Xiahou Hui specifically asked Ding Mi whether he left any words when he delivered the message, and what happened in Youzhou during the time he was away.

"Two things."

Ding Mi did not delay and said directly, "First, Zuo Junbo and Wei Yangyuan have returned. Because they were accompanied by A Luopan, the younger brother of Youbeiping Wuhuan Chanyu Kou Loudun, they followed Zhiquan's previous instructions and went to Ji County to report to Guanqiu Shijun. And because Kou Loudun had lived in Youbeiping before, he also hoped to return to his old place after surrendering, so Guanqiu Shijun is now in Youbeiping to select a resettlement site for the Wuhuan tribe."

"The other is that Zhang Gongben and Qian Shiyi returned more than ten days ago. The battle went on as planned, and they killed Duan Rilujuan and his brother Duan Qizhen, and all the members of their clan. According to Zhiquan's instructions, they were taken to Guzhu City and handed over to the governor Fu Fujun for disposal. However, after Guanqiu Shijun learned about this, he asked them to take those members of the clan to Youbeiping."

Uh, I see.

Guanqiu Jian felt that he had alerted the enemy.

After all, when Guanqiu Jian was in Luoyang, he wanted to "capture the leader first". He planned to lead his troops and the emperor's edict to Liaosui, lure Gongsun Yuan out of the city to receive the edict, and then take him down. If Gongsun Yuan was unwilling to surrender, he could also transfer the Liaodong troops out of the city for a field battle.

However, the Duan Rilu clan lived in Changli, a vassal state of Liaodong. If Xiahou Hui sent troops to destroy them, Liaodong would definitely notice it. In addition, Gongsun Yuan could guess that the government was going to take action against him because of the surrender of the remaining pro-Yuan Wuhuan tribes, no matter how unprepared he was.

Does this count as acting first and reporting later, and blocking Guanqiu Jian's plan first?

Although he was the commander-in-chief and had the final say on which tactics to choose, Guanqiu Jian was the one who contributed the most to practical matters such as military reorganization and material dispatch. Moreover, after he came to Youzhou, he had given him both power division and goodwill. Would he be dissatisfied if he suddenly did this without consulting him?

With such speculation, Xiahou Hui also remembered the letter he and Fu Rong had signed before, detailing the strategy of attacking Liaodong. He also took the opportunity to ask Ding Mi whether Guanqiu Jian had any letter in response to this.

"Of course there is."

Ding Mi responded and continued, "Envoy Guanqiu wrote to me twice. The first reply only stated that it would not be too late to discuss the suggestion of Governor Fu after Zhiquan returned from surveying the terrain in Liaoze. I replied on his behalf, and also attached the words of 'military expedition to seek profit' that I had discussed with Zhiquan before. The original intention was to explain the matter of sending Zhang Gongben and Shiyi to destroy the Duan Rilujuan settlement. But unexpectedly, Envoy Guanqiu reacted very strongly. He did not discuss the measures to be taken after Liaodong was settled, but immediately sent his personal followers to dissuade this action. However, Zhang Gongben and other soldiers had already set off, and it was too late to catch up, so he asked me to send someone to inform Zhiquan after he returned."

After saying that, Ding Mi paused, and then suggested, "Zhi Quan, in my opinion, Guan Qiu Shijun must be resentful of you for launching the war without my permission. In order to cooperate properly in the future attack on Liaodong, now that Zhi Quan has returned, it would be better for you to go to Youbeiping in person, rather than wait for him to come to Liaoxi in person."

Right!

I am in the wrong, so I should be more humble.

"Yeah, I mean that, too."

Hearing this, Xiahou Hui nodded slightly, took off his dirty and smelly battle robe, and walked towards the wooden bucket of water that Qu had prepared inside the house. He smiled and said, "Although I know that things cannot be delayed any longer, I will take a shower and change clothes before setting off. Well, does Yan Jing want to come with us?"

"Still not."

Ding Mi shook his head decisively.

As she followed him into the inner room, she continued to mutter.

"At present, Envoy Guanqiu probably has no intention of planning what to do after the Liaodong settlement. Zhiquan should first think about how to convince him to accept your plan for war with Governor Fu."

"Oh, right, Han Yun recruited a total of thirty soldiers, all of them strong men, and gave me the remaining gold after buying war horses and staffs. I took the initiative to buy them a few sets of clothes, stocked up some wine and drinks to keep warm in the winter, and divided it among everyone for pocket money, that's all."

"Also, after Zhang Gongben and Qian Shiyi returned from the battle, they told me in detail what happened during the battle and asked me to tell you about it. I will now tell you in general. That day, Zhang Gongben..."

"There's no need to talk about this."

Pulling off the hemp cloth tied around her hair, Xiahou Hui, who was now stripped down to only a single layer of clothing, interrupted him and motioned him to leave. "It's just a small settlement of a few hundred people. Zhang Gongben and Qian Shiyi led their troops to attack it, like an owl biting a rotten rat ear. Yanjing, I'm going to take a bath. If you have nothing else to do, you can go and inform Han Yuncong and others on my behalf and ask them to get ready and follow me to Youbeiping in half an hour."

We are all men, what is there to be ashamed of?
Ding Mi muttered to himself, but did not refute. He just said "Okay" and turned to walk out.

Indeed, asking Zhang Hu and Qian Hong to lead their main force to attack Duan Rilujuan's small settlement is like asking a thirty-year-old strong man to beat up a seven or eight-year-old child. The strength of both sides is not at the same level, so there is nothing to say.

But as he walked out of the inner room, he paused slightly.

He suddenly remembered that he had not yet informed Xiahou Hui of what Wei Shu mentioned in the letter.

But after changing his mind, he did not turn around and continued walking out.

Never mind. It’s not a big deal anyway.

It won’t be too late to mention it when he returns from meeting Guanqiu Jian in Youbeiping.

When he walked out of the outer room, he saw Han Long, who had learned of Xiahou Hui's return, had already gathered his troops and was standing outside the room. He must be reporting to Xiahou Hui and introducing his troops to him.

"The clouds come so fast~"

Seeing this, Ding Mi also put on a smile on his face, greeted him and said, "The general is taking a bath now, let me tell you." Three days later, it was evening.

Tuyun County, the seat of Youbeiping County, was the post station on the banks of the Dashui River (Liugu River).

Guanqiu Jian, with a very tired face, finished his meal hastily. He stood up to get some water to rinse his mouth and signaled the postman to clear the table. Then he walked out of the post station and walked slowly along the water's edge to digest his food.

There was a lot of meat soup, salted vegetables and millet rice left over from the table.

When the postman who came to clean up saw this, he couldn't help but sigh that the small dog raised in the backyard had a good meal again today.

He did not think that Guanqiu Jian was a pampered child who could not be used to such simple and coarse food, but he knew that the governor was busy with trivial matters and had something on his mind, which led to his loss of appetite.

For example, he hardly slept during the seven days he stayed at the post station.

He was either working late into the night at his desk, or sitting alone in the backyard, staring at the moon until three in the morning.

Even though the prefect had not sent anyone to deliver documents in the past two days, and the Wuhuan Chanyu Kouloudun's brother A Luopan and the people from the Zuo family had also left, Guanqiu Jian still looked depressed.

Are you worried about the coming severe winter, heavy snow that will collapse houses and too many people freezing to death?
But the winters in recent years have been getting colder year by year. It is inevitable that people will freeze to death and houses will collapse. What is there to worry about?

Besides, the harvest this year is also good~
Youzhou has not had a bad harvest for three consecutive years, and few animals died of freezing during the white disaster. We don't even need to ask the court to transport food and fodder from Jizhou, and we can survive the lean period next year. Envoy Guanqiu should be thankful.
The postman, who had nothing to do, poured the leftovers into the ceramic bowl of the greyhound. He watched the greyhound's tail wagging with joy as it devoured the meal, and was thinking something in his mind.

Of course, this thought disappeared in the blink of an eye.

As a minor official, he was just thinking about this kind of thing on a whim.

Moreover, Guanqiu Jian would be leaving Youbeiping the next day, and his life would return to its usual peaceful state, so there was no need to worry about it.

Da da da.
A burst of dense horse hoof sounds came from far away.

When the postman who was feeding the dog heard this, he hurried out to greet them as per his duty.

I saw about thirty riders had arrived twenty steps outside the post station, and were jumping off their horses one after another. They were all dusty and strong men, dressed in tight clothes, with bows and swords on their backs, and spears hanging on their horses. Although they moved in an orderly manner, they did not have the air of an army, and looked like guards of a wealthy family or a wealthy merchant, or perhaps bandits.

Because this group of people has a strong wild and unruly spirit.

Is it a noble family from another county who comes to visit Guanqiu Shijun, or is it a knight from the folks who comes to join the army?
The postman, who had seen countless people, was guessing secretly.

He did not go forward to ask, because the personal guards left here by Guanqiu Jian were already on alert, and a team leader also shouted to stop the crowd.

Of course, it was Xiahou Hui and his party who came.

He first went to the Youbeiping prefectural government but couldn't find anyone there. After jumping off his horse, he identified himself to the team leader and asked a few questions. Then he let Han Long take his troops to find food, while he asked the team leader to send a few people to lead him to see Guanqiu Jian.

Guanqiu Jian did not walk far when he took a walk after dinner.

The port where the Longxian River flows into the Fengda River is a place where many species of birds stop to rest during this season, including white cranes and red-crowned cranes, which are the kind of birds that inspire writers and poets to write poetry.

Guanqiu Jian, who was the first official selected for the Eastern Palace for his literary talent, also liked the scene of cranes dancing on the water.

But now he came to watch the cranes, exhausted from work, and placed his mind on the leisurely dance of the wild cranes, in order to find a moment of peace for himself.

He's been too tired lately.

The preparations for the military affairs and supplies for the Liaodong invasion had already kept him busy, but Xiahou Hui's arbitrary and dictatorial behavior after coming to Youzhou also made him very worried.

Long before he took up his post in Youzhou, Emperor Cao Rui had privately instructed him, claiming that Xiahou Hui had a very stubborn character, and that he, as he was older and had served in many positions, should give him more advice and not create discord over the expedition to Liaodong.

He always remembered it.

He also tried his best to show goodwill and strive to live in harmony and work together with Xiahou Hui.

Not only did he directly divide the powers of Liaoxi County, but he also divided the powers of Liaoxi County to others when Xiahou Hui mentioned it, leaving them to do what they wanted. Although he had already planned to surrender the remaining pro-Yuan Wuhuan tribes, he still divided the powers to others when Xiahou Hui mentioned it, leaving them to do what they wanted.

Unexpectedly, Xiahou Hui was still not satisfied!
So stubborn and arbitrary!
After discussing with Liaoxi Governor Fu Rong, he wrote a letter saying that he wanted to discuss with him the strategy of attacking Liaodong. However, without waiting for his reply, he directly sent Zhang Hu and Qian Hong to attack the small settlement of Duanrilujuan.

Is this called consulting with him?
It was clearly a notice! His previous plan had been ruined, so what else was there to discuss?
Although Xiahou Hui is the main general and has the power to make decisions in the war against Liaodong, military affairs are no joke. Everyone has the same goal. Wouldn't it be good to work together?

I may not necessarily oppose his and Fu Rong's conclusion~
Why do you have to do this?
Yes, Guanqiu Jian did not insist on his own opinion and think that his strategy was correct.

Especially after he saw that Ding Mi later recorded the book on his behalf, which was related to Xiahou Hui's idea of ​​"going out to seek profit through military operations".

He was unhappy with Xia Houhui's way of doing things.

He felt that Xiahou Hui was not prudent enough, and he also felt that if he was allowed to continue like this, there would probably be more conflicts between the two when they attacked Liaodong the following year.

Therefore, he had to have a face-to-face talk with Xiahou Hui.

Be open and honest with each other.

After all, the two of them are now in the same boat, and he also hopes that they will still be companions in the future.

Because this is also the scene that Emperor Cao Rui wants to see.

Alas, I hope Zhiquan can understand Your Majesty’s expectations and my painstaking efforts.

Watching the white cranes covered in the sunset flying over the water, Guanqiu Jian's thoughts also followed the winding water southward and spread to the capital Luoyang.

After learning that Luoyang was renovating the palace on a large scale this year and that Prince Cao Fang was made King of Qi and Cao Xun was made King of Qin, he guessed that Emperor Cao Rui would no longer have the ambition to destroy Shu and Wu in the short term; he also guessed that Cao Rui was beginning to have the intention of taking back the power in the court.

He and Xiahou Hui are a crucial link.

But Xiahou Hui's behavior and character made him feel as free as a flying white crane. (End of this chapter)