Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 653 Tian Ji Horse Racing
Xin Pi calmed down a bit, coughed a few times to quiet down the noisy Wei court, and then said: "Your Majesty, Ma Chao died suddenly and Longdi was suddenly lost. Now, should we take advantage of Lu Xun's unstable position to send troops to conquer Longyou and see if we can regain Longdi for the country?"

Cao Rui shook his head and said in a calm voice: "According to the memorial, the reason why Liang suddenly fell was because the Tianshui Jiang family colluded with Lu Xun. Jiang Jiong rebelled in Jincheng, Jiang Wei opened Jicheng and surrendered to the Han, and Jiang Xu surrendered in Shanggui."

"Lu Xun conquered the six counties in the right part of Long and recruited all the people from Long to serve as officials. He appointed Zhao Ang from Tianshui as the chief secretary and governed all the counties on the upper part of Long together. Now all the old soldiers of Liang have surrendered to the bandits. There are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. We have the danger of Longshan Mountain and the support of Bashu. We should not mobilize the troops hastily!"

Not only did Xin Pi intend to attack Longyou, Cao Zhen also proposed this in his memorial. However, Cao Rui considered the overall situation and had no choice but to reject the proposal to attack Longyou.

In addition to the difficulty of fighting in Longyou, there was also the news that Huo Jun was about to launch a northern expedition, which made him nervous all the time. After all, Huo Jun was mobilizing the whole country to launch a northern expedition, which could not be hidden from the Cao Wei spies who were interested in investigating.

Once Cao Wei mobilized troops to attack Longyou and got into a fierce battle, it would be very easy for Huo Jun to lead his troops to steal the home. As for the operation similar to Lu Xun's quick attack on Longyou, Cao Rui did not dare to hope for it. After all, Cao Wei's national strength was still weak, how could Cao Rui dare to gamble!
Liu Ye hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the enemy has now taken Longyou and is shaking Guanxi. From what I have seen, Huo Jun may attack us soon. We should focus on Qingxu and deploy defenses now, and should not send troops to Guanxi!"

"What's the evidence?" Cao Rui asked.

Liu Ye held the tablet in one hand and said thoughtfully, "Deng Zhi traveled thousands of miles to join forces with Kebi Neng, and then Kebi Neng colluded with Budugen and invaded Bingzhou. Lu Xun sneaked across Yinping and secretly linked up with Jiang Jiong and his son, and then Lu Xun captured and killed Ma Chao and took over the six counties in Longyou."

"Now Guanxi and Heshuo are in turmoil. With Huo Jun's military deployment, they will take advantage of the situation and march straight to the Central Plains. At that time, the troops in Guanxi could not go east. Hebei was invaded by the barbarians. The troops in Jianghan attacked Jingwan, and the troops in Huaisi attacked Qingxu. The four borders of Wei, southeast, northwest, and northeast, will be in flames everywhere and will not stop!"

People with strategic vision, after learning that Huo Jun is about to launch a large-scale Northern Expedition, observing the current situation, it is not difficult to find that this may be Huo Jun's arrangement before the Northern Expedition.

He used diplomatic tactics to eliminate weak enemies and created a military environment where Cao Wei, which controlled the Central Plains, was surrounded by enemies.

In the north, Deng Zhi joined forces with Kebi Neng to threaten Cao Wei's hinterland in Hebei, forcing Cao Wei to send troops to garrison Hebei.

In the west, Lu Xun was the commander-in-chief of the military forces of the three western states, and responded to the Xianbei, cutting off the Liangzhou Road and tying down the troops in Guanxi.

In the south, Zhuge Liang led the Jianghan troops and marched out of the center, heading straight for Jingwan and threatening the Luoyang army.

In the east, Huo Jun would certainly lead his troops out of Huai and Si and open up the battlefield from the weak flank.

If troops were deployed on all sides at the same time, Cao Wei would be exhausted from dealing with enemies from all directions. As before, in order to increase the military strength of Henan, it would be very difficult to transfer troops from Hebei to the south. After all, Hebei was the granary of Cao Wei, and once it was plundered by the Xianbei Hu cavalry, the consequences could be imagined.

Needless to say, the other three sides are all key points. Once one of them is broken through, it will lead to a series of changes in the overall battlefield situation.

Chen Qun looked unhappy and said, "Then should we cancel the military order and postpone the proposal to use troops against Ke Bineng, and order Zhang He to lead his troops back to Henan?"

"No!"

Cao Rui seemed to have thought of something, and said in a firm tone: "We must use our troops against Ke Bineng now!"

"Why?"

Liu Ye explained on behalf of Cao Rui, saying: "If we can defeat Ke Bineng now, he will be afraid and dare not go south. When Huo Jun attacks us in the future, Hebei will be able to be somewhat safe."

Then, Liu Ye went on to say: "Huo Jun wants to surround us from all sides. If our country can first drive back the Xianbei people, we can concentrate our forces to resist the enemy. Although the people in Guanxi are led by Lu Xun, they are not a concern as General Zidan is in charge."

"So if we are fighting against pirates, we should focus on the military affairs of Guandong. Do the easy things first and then the difficult things, and defeat each group one by one, so that we can resolve the danger of war on all sides!" Wei Zhen stroked his beard and said thoughtfully, "If we want to do the easy things first and then the difficult things, we can expect that Huo Jun's troops will be in difficulty, while the troops in Jianghan will be easy. When the troops in Jianghan retreat, Lu Xun's troops will also retreat. When the troops on three sides all retreat, Huo Jun will not be able to support the world alone, and the danger will be resolved!"

"Of course!"

Seeing that everyone understood what he meant, Liu Ye perked up and said, "In ancient times, when Tian Ji was racing horses, he divided the horses into three categories: upper, middle, and lower. The lower horses fought the upper horses, then the middle horses defeated the lower horses, and then the upper horses defeated the middle horses. Today, we can imitate Tian Ji's horse racing in deploying troops."

"Hmm~"

Wei Zhen hesitated and said, "I wonder what detailed strategy Mr. Liu has?"

Liu Ye held up a tablet and bowed to Cao Rui, saying, "General Zhang He is a famous general in the world. Emperor Wu praised him, saying that Zhang He's surrender was like Wei Zi's leaving Yin and Han Xin's returning to Han!"

"The Jianghan area was where Guan Yu used his military power early on, and later became the place where Liu Bei attacked us. After Liu Bei died of illness, Zhuge Liang was the commander. Although Zhuge Liang used his troops well, he was a rookie and could not be called a hero. From Ye's point of view, there was no general available for the pirates."

"Huai and Si are the territories controlled by Huo Jun. Whenever he invades us, he always sends troops out of Huai and Si. He has all the water, infantry, chariots, and cavalry. He knows the weather and the situation of mountains and rivers. His military skills are comparable to those of Han Baiwei and Huo Jun. He is invincible in the world!"

Liu Ye changed the subject and said, "Even though Huo Jun was invincible, he was defeated and captured at Sishang. He was blocked by the strong city of Shouchun for more than ten years. If we can hold the strategic locations of Pengcheng and Muling, we should be able to stop him from using troops for a while."

"So, from the above, Zhuge Liang is the inferior horse, Lu Xun is the middle horse, and Huo Jun is the superior horse. Now we can order General Zhang He to support Jingwan and defeat Zhuge Liang together with General Sima. Then we can order General Zhang He to march eastward and join forces with Man Yuzhou to intercept Sikou, block the grain from Huai and Si from going northward, and force them to withdraw."

Liu Ye was full of confidence and said, "It is just as the previous words say. If Zhuge's troops retreat, Lu Xun will retreat. If Lu and Ge retreat, Huo Jun will be attacked from three sides. How can he stand out from the Huai River and Si River alone?"

Liu Ye's military thinking was simple. He defeated Kebi Neng in advance to deter him from looting Hebei on a large scale. After dealing with Kebi Neng, he used the famous general Zhang He to lead the mobile forces, first defeating Zhuge Liang, who he called "dismounted", and then repelling Huo Jun, who was "mounted", by cutting off his food supply.

"Ok!"

Chen Qun nodded slightly, agreeing and saying, "What Minister Liu said is a good strategy to repel the enemy. The pirates have raised a large army to attack us. If we cannot repel them, it will be a waste of the people's strength. I estimate that within three years, the pirates will not be able to raise a large army to attack us."

After the defeats in the Shouchun and Zhongli battles, Cao Wei needed to rest and recuperate to recover its strength. Two years had passed, and after Huo Jun's large-scale northern expedition, it would be able to rest for three to four years.

With the national strength of the Northern Wei Dynasty, after five or six years of rest, although it cannot be said that the national strength has been restored to its peak, it can restore seven or eight levels of military strength. With sufficient military strength, as long as the Northern Wei Dynasty does not make any mistakes, the two sides will enter a period of confrontation again.

Once the confrontation period begins, the Northern Wei will be able to use its military force, such as implementing the previous plan, to see if it can take over Longyou, reintegrate Guanxi, and block the Southern Han back to Hanzhong.

After Liu Ye's long speech, Cao Rui's gloomy expression improved slightly.

To be honest, after Longyou was occupied by Ma Chao, it was no longer owned by Cao Wei. But people always have a competitive heart. Sometimes when they see their opponents or friends living better than themselves, they will fall into autism, discomfort, jealousy and other emotions.

This was Cao Rui's mood at the moment. He was troubled by Ke Bineng, and seeing the Southern Han expanding its territory and the gap between Han and Wei, it was more painful than killing him!
Cao Rui calmed down and praised him, "Zi Yang is indeed a man of both talent and strategy. Without your good advice, I would not have learned Huo Jun's strategy of setting fires on all sides and the key to driving back the enemy troops!"

Liu Ye's strategy of "Tian Ji's Horse Racing" was very good. He grasped the essence of the Southern Han's use of troops and defeated the Southern Han's armies one by one by using troops first with the easy ones and then with the difficult ones.

But Liu Ye is not a fortune teller, and his judgment on the ability of the "horse" seems not to be so correct!
(End of this chapter)