Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 295
Jian'an 16th year, September.

Zhang Fei defeated Han Sui at Yangping Pass and took over as general to conquer the east; Ma Chao withdrew his troops from Hanzhong and marched west to Longyou to fight for territory; Liangzhou governors Wei Kang, Yan Xing and Yang Fu raised troops and horses in Long to fight Ma Chao.

At that time, Zhang Meng, the prefect of Wuwei, killed Handan merchants, the governor of Yongzhou, and started a rebellion. Xia Houyuan led his troops into Guanzhong on the grounds of conquering Zhang Meng.

When Ma Chao heard this, he was horrified and hastily withdrew his troops from Longyou and returned to Chencang.Letters were sent to Kansai warlords such as Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, Li Kan, Zhang Heng, Liang Xing, and Cheng Yi, explaining their interests and harms in order to control Xia Houyuan.

When the letter first arrived, Xiahou Yuanqi attacked and defeated Liang Xing, Xu Huang defeated Li Kan and entered Chang'an.The generals in Guanxi were afraid of Xia Houyuan's military strength, but only three troops from the northwest, Yang Qiu, Cheng Yin, and Zhang Heng, responded, plus two troops from Ma Chao and Ma Wan, leaving only five troops to resist Cao Cao.

Ma Chao spent all his money in Nanzheng and recruited ten thousand people from the Qiang and Di people to join the army, making a total of [-] soldiers.Xia Houyuan was unable to defeat Ma Chao at first, and was defeated and retreated to Chang'an and Lantian.

Cao Cao withdrew his troops from Jiangxia and led [-] troops into Guanzhong via Wuguan Road, where he joined Xia Houyuan and formed a combined force of [-] troops.

The situation in Guanzhong is changing rapidly, and Wu Chu also has a plan.

Wancheng, government office.

In the meeting hall, Ma Liang sat on the side seat and informed Huo Jun on the couch about military affairs.

"Your Majesty, General Yide beheaded Han Sui, surrendered to Zhang Lu, and captured Hanzhong for Wu Chu. General Gan robbed the camp with hundreds of cavalry, shocked Cao's army, and promoted the power of our army. Now Cao Cao has left Jiangxia due to the turmoil in the northwest. Withdraw the troops and enter Wuguanxi and Pingguanlong."

Huo Jun nodded slightly and said in admiration: "It was not easy for General Zhang to enter Hanzhong this time, and it is also not easy to kill Han Sui. Congratulations to my lord, for not only gaining Hanzhong, but also getting a good general."

Ma Liang smiled and said: "My lord was very happy when he heard the news of General Zhang's success. He drank several bottles with the generals. Now he ordered people to go to Shu and worship General Zhang as the general who conquers the east. He will increase the number of households in the city by thousands."

As he said that, Ma Liang asked the people around him to hand over letters and said: "The threat from Jiangxia has been resolved. My lord heard that my wife and concubine gave birth to three children. I ordered Liang to send some gold, silver and red silk as a celebration."

The relationship between Liu Bei and his close subordinates was not a pure monarch-subordinate relationship, but mostly both monarch and friend. Therefore, he often rewarded his subordinates with things for some happy events.

Of course, Liu Bei's treatment of Huo Jun's words was different.Because Huo Jun was out of town in Jiangbei, he was unable to communicate frequently.Liu Bei often asked those in the Grand Sima's house to do errands, such as Ma Liang, Ma Su, Zhou Buyi and others.

When these people go on missions, they will more or less bring the items that Liu Bei rewarded Huo Jun, not only good horses, but also daily necessities such as honey, sugar cane, Shu brocade, fine wine, summer and winter clothing, etc. It is a thoughtful sharing.

Huo Jun's concubines gave birth to two daughters and one son. The son was born to Xiao Qiao, and daughters were born to Bu Lianshi and Li Qian.The second son was named Huo Chang, and the two daughters were Huo Jie and Huo Wen.

Huo Jun put down the letter and said with a smile: "Jun is very grateful for your kindness, my lord. Ji Chang has worked hard after traveling thousands of miles."

"Don't dare!"

Ma Liang cupped his hands and replied: "How dare you say hard work when you are ordered by your lord. Let's talk freely with the envoy. It is beneficial to talk. Liang has benefited a lot. I am always willing to obey the envoy's orders."

Ma Liang is better at talking than his younger brother Ma Su, and he almost follows other people's opinions. It's no wonder that Guan Yu and Ma Liang have a very good relationship.If it were people like Liu Ba, Pan Jun, and Zhang Zhao, Guan Yu would have had conflicts with them long ago. These people are not as humble as Ma Liang.

As for your question about the relationship between Huo Jun and Guan Yu, I can't say it's good or bad, it's just an ordinary relationship between colleagues.However, because of Huo Jun's outstanding achievements, Guan Yu was under great pressure.

Guan Yu didn't look down on Huo Jun, but he couldn't accept that his performance was too inferior to Huo Jun's.He longed to be on an equal footing with Huo Jun, and even longed to surpass him.After all, Guan Yu also has his own pride. It is this mentality that prompts him to continue to learn naval knowledge to make himself stronger.

Huo Jun smiled a few times and asked, "Ji Chang has come all the way from Wuhan. I wonder what my lord needs to give me?"

Ma Liang said truthfully: "Liang was ordered by my lord to ask the general if he could attack Hefei?"

Huo Jun asked: "Does Ji Chang think it can be cut down now?"

Ma Liang pondered for a while and said: "Now that Cao Cao has withdrawn from Jiangxia, his army is heading to Guanxi, and he may be able to attack Hefei. However, there are heavy troops in Jianghuai and Xuzhou, and there are three generals Zhang Liao, Li Dian, and Zhu Guang stationed in Hefei. It may not be easy to capture Hefei. .”

Huo Jun held the hilt of the sword in his hand, stood up on the couch, and said with a confident smile: "How are the soldiers and horses of Jianghuai and Xuzhou? Jun regarded them as trivial, defeated Hefei, and marched to the Huaihe River. It is now."

Seeing that Huo Jun was confident, Ma Liang looked surprised and asked, "Is what you said true?"

"No!"

Ma Liang seemed to feel that he was questioning Huo Jun, and hurriedly said: "Liang means that the general has any plan to seize Hefei? And can I ask for my lord's help?"

Huo Jun walked up and down with his sword in hand and said with a smile: "There are only more than 5000 soldiers and horses in Jun's tent. In terms of the current strength of the army, it is possible to besiege Hefei, but it is not possible to withdraw the reinforcements, let alone capture Hefei. Ji Chang will return to the Lord and ask the Lord Twenty-five thousand public welfare soldiers were sent to the north of the Yangtze River. Jun took Hefei for the Lord and marched into the Huaihe River."

Ma Liang excitedly recorded what Huo Jun said and asked, "Do you have anything else to ask for? If you are a military official, can you ask for anything?"

Huo Jun stood in the foot hall and said: "Let the lord send Xingba to help me. Let the lord send a brave general to join me. He must be brave enough to be unstoppable by ten thousand men, not ordinary generals such as Wei Yan and Fu Wei."

"But to meet the enemy Zhang Liao?" Ma Liang asked.

"That's what I mean!" Huo Jun replied.Ma Liang recorded Huo Jun's needs and asked, "Does the envoy have anything else to ask for?"

Huo Jun looked at Ma Liang and said with a smile: "If Ji Chang wishes, he can join Jun's tent and join the expedition."

With Ma Liang's emotional intelligence, how could he not know what Huo Jun meant? This was his achievement in joining the expedition to Hefei.

Without hesitation, Ma Liang raised his hand and said, "Thank you so much, envoy. How dare you not be willing to do so!"

Huo Jun has long been at ease with selling favors.Lu Su, Pang Tong, and Jiang Wan were appointed as officials, and none of them had Huo Jun's personal connections.

Ability is outstanding, but you also need to know how to deal with human relationships.Now let Ma Liang, who is in an awkward period, take advantage of his achievements and help him, which will surely bring the relationship between the two to a higher level.

After chatting for a while, Huo Jun let Ma Liang out of the hall.

"How is it? How is Ji Chang better than You Chang?" Huo Jun asked.

Jiang Ji, who was sitting silently on the sidelines, smiled and said: "The Wuchang of the Ma family, the white eyebrows are the best. The words of this countryman are really not deceiving."

Stroking his beard, Jiang Ji commented: "Conversing with Ma Liang is like drinking sake. It is sweet in the mouth and you will not get drunk after drinking too much. It is beyond the comparison of his younger brother Ma Su!"

"Ok!"

Huo Jun said with emotion: "If the Ma family wants to prosper, it should be in Ji Chang, not in Youchang."

Ma Di is valued by Zhuge Liang. To be honest, he is inseparable from Ma Liang's relationship.During the Battle of Chrysostom, Ma Liang went to Jingnan as an envoy.Liu Xian asked Changsha County to help the coalition forces, and Ma Liang was credited with running in the middle.Therefore, after the war, he was highly valued by Liu Bei.

However, after the merger of Wu and Chu, Liu Bei suppressed Ma Liang's promotion in order to treat Liu Qi's subordinates favorably.Nowadays, Ma Liang is highly regarded by the official, but he lacks merit and has difficulty in ascending to the throne.Now that Ma Liang has gained some military exploits, promotion is inevitable.

Looking at the map hanging on the wall, Huo Jun asked: "Now that Cao Cao is far away from Guanzhong, the Central Plains is empty, it is time to use troops. I want to conquer Hefei, does Zitong have any ideas?"

Jiang Ji thought for a while and then said: "General, Hefei is two to three hundred miles away from Shouchun, and Shouchun is close to Yuzhou and Xuzhou. When the war begins, the general will raise his troops to attack Hefei, and Jianghuai troops will rush to help first. If we can't attack quickly, we will attack Hefei." Hefei, the defenders and reinforcements are coordinating internal and external cooperation, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get to Hefei."

After a pause, Jiang Ji continued: "However, there are three generals Zhang Liao, Li Dian, and Zhu Guang in the city of Hefei, so it is difficult to attack Hefei quickly. Therefore, if the general wants to take Hefei, he can only defeat the defenders in the south and reinforce the troops in the north. Only then can we conquer Hefei."

"I wonder what the general means?"

Huo Jun picked up the writing brush from the desk, circled Hefei on the map, and said with a smile: "As Zitong said, I want to besiege the city and call for reinforcements."

"Besiege the city and call for reinforcements?" Jiang Ji said thoughtfully, listening to the unfamiliar vocabulary.

"Exactly!"

Huo Jun stroked his sword on his back and said slowly: "Besiege a city and fight for reinforcements. When you besiege the enemy, you must rescue the city, build forts, and besiege the fortified city for a protracted battle. Counterattack the reinforcements. If the reinforcements do not arrive, the enemy will be afraid. If you are afraid, it will be easier." Surrender. This is how we take Hefei. The city of Hefei is small and isolated in the Central Plains. There are no reinforcements from outside. If we defend it for a long time, it will be broken."

Besieging a city and calling for reinforcements comes from the words of a later librarian.During the Three Kingdoms period, this idiom had not yet been coined, but it does not mean that the Three Kingdoms did not have this tactical idea.

During the Battle of Xiling, Lu Kang adopted tactics similar to siege and reinforcements, defeating the reinforcements, damaging the morale of the defenders, and thus breaking through Xiling City.

Today, in Huo Jun's view, the enemy will inevitably face rescue when attacking Hefei.If the reinforcements are not driven back, there is almost no possibility of taking Hefei, so the only option is to besiege the city and call for reinforcements.

In history, Sun Quan attacked Hefei several times. Except for the first time when he besieged Hefei, he could hardly besiege the city while Zhang Liao was guarding it.It was impossible to siege the city, let alone repel the reinforcements in the Jianghuai area and capture Hefei.

Zhuge Ke's new city failed miserably, and his strategic thinking was correct.That is to say, besieging Hefei New City, and then besieging the city to bring reinforcements will definitely gain something.

It is a pity that Zhuge Ke's strategy was to abandon the attack on the city when the city was about to fall.Then he withdrew his troops under the torment of plague, disease and siege casualties, and was eventually overtaken and defeated by Sima Fu's army.

Jiang Ji thought for a long time and said: "The strategy of siege and reinforcements mentioned by the general is very clever. However, the city is difficult to conquer and the enemy cannot advance. What should our army do?"

This was Sima Fu's plan, to let the enemy invaders consume their energy under the city of Hefei, and then rush to attack and defeat them when they were about to withdraw.

Huo Jun looked at Hefei City and said with a slight smile: "If Hefei City is in urgent need, how can the enemy dare to hold back their troops in Shouchun?"

To break Sima Fu's strategy would make Hefei panic and there is a possibility of being broken.In this case, they have to be rescued, and they must be rescued as soon as possible, but then it is time to test the army's combat effectiveness.

If you want to break the siege and bring reinforcements, you can either encircle Wei and rescue Zhao, or use a large army to defeat the besieging army.Strategies in the world restrain each other, and nothing is ever static.It is almost impossible to try to conquer the world with one move.

"Ji will follow the general, and watch the general defeat the enemy!" Jiang Ji said with an expectant look on his face.

(End of this chapter)