Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 504 498. Opportunity for the Northern Expedition
The news of Cao Xiu's defeat also reached Jiangling and Luoyang at the same time, and the reactions of the two sides were naturally different.

Let’s talk about Luoyang first. After a series of open and secret struggles, Cao Li finally chose an auspicious day to officially ascend the throne and inherit the throne. This emperor who did not exist in the original timeline was later posthumously named "Emperor Min of Wei".

However, at this time, Cao Li was at the peak of his life. He had just completely defeated his brother, Cao Rui, who was supposed to be the Emperor Ming of Wei, politically. Now, because of his failure in the political struggle, he was forced to exile to the distant Liangzhou and was renamed Marquis of Jincheng. He was not allowed to leave Jincheng without orders. At the same time, except for the fief, he had no special privileges. He even had to report to the Governor of Liangzhou for any matter.

After Cao Li had taken drastic measures to clean out most of the "rebels" in the court who were loyal to Cao Rui, he also took the time to comfort other ministers who were loyal to him this time.

Cao Zhen was promoted directly from the General of the Central Army to the General, which was almost in line with everyone's previous expectations. He also served as the Governor of Guanzhong, in charge of all military and political affairs in the Guanzhong region.

Cao Zhi rose to prominence overnight, from being the previously ignored Prince of Yongqiu to becoming the Chief of the Imperial Clan, one of the Nine Ministers. Although it was a position that did not allow him to interfere too much in court affairs, Cao Zhi was already very satisfied with it. This was much better than Cao Pi who had to be on guard against him every day.

As for Cao Xiu… Cao Li was still hesitating about how to promote Cao Xiu, but then Cao Xiu sent a battle report, saying that the Wei army suffered heavy casualties in Huainan. Cao Li was so angry that he didn't know what to say. When I ascended the throne, you didn't come, saying that you were fighting a great battle with the Han army. I endured it for the sake of your service to the country.

Now that I'm on the throne, you tell me you haven't fought yet? Even Hefei is in danger, so why do I need you?
In the end, Cao Li still felt that Cao Xiu's position was indeed more important, and that changing generals in the middle of a battle was a taboo in military strategy, so he simply reduced Cao Xiu's fiefdom as a punishment, but still gave Cao Xiu the position of Governor of Jianghuai, with all the rights equivalent to Cao Zhen, and he was in charge of the southeast direction.

As for the reinforcements Cao Zhen requested, Cao Li, after consulting all the civil and military officials in the court, ordered Jiang Ji and Jia Kui to lead an army of 30,000 to support Cao Xiu.

Firstly, the Han army on Cao Xiu's side was not large, 30,000 was more than enough. Jiang Ji and Jia Kui were not mediocre people either. As long as they advanced steadily, these 30,000 people would definitely be more than enough to defend Hefei.

Moreover, it is not easy to transfer too many people to the middle road. If the Han army attacks directly, the empty middle road will cause big problems.

However, as the old saying goes, good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes singly. After Cao Li issued the order, he received news that the Han army had already set out and was heading towards Wancheng with great momentum. The Northern Expedition that Cao Pi had always been worried about and afraid of starting by the Han army seemed to have already happened.

On the Han side, Feng Xi received intelligence from Luoyang a few days ago and knew that it was Cao Zhi who came to Luoyang that day. It is interesting to say that although Cao Zhi has the heart to serve the country, he can't change his bad habit of drinking. Cao Zhi knew that after he left, Luoyang opened a restaurant called Qianzuifang, which specializes in selling good wine. How could he resist such temptation?
In this way, Qianzuifang effortlessly relayed to Feng Xi the story of Cao Zhi returning to Luoyang and supporting Cao Li.

At the same time, Feng Xi also received reports from Jianghuai that the main force of Cao Xiu's Huainan Army suffered heavy losses after being tricked by Feng Xi and Zhu Huan's false surrender plan, and could only defend the city and was unable to fight in the field.

After multiple judgments, Feng Xi believed that this was a trick of Cao Wei and the possibility of Cao Pi faking his death was too low. Apart from anything else, Cao Pi would never allow Cao Zhi to return to Luoyang and re-enter the center of power.

In fact, Feng Xi originally thought that Cao Pi's death from illness was reliable, but Feng Xi had to take care of other people's opinions. Now that the evidence was solid, others could not help but believe it, so Feng Xi made a prompt decision and began to summon troops from Jingzhou. At the same time, he sent a pigeon to Zhuge Liang to ask Chuanzhong to prepare. The two sides agreed on a time to send troops together. Feng Xi did not ask how Chuanzhong would act at that time. Zhuge Liang's strategic goal was to attack Liangzhou and Guanzhong from west to east. At that time, Zhuge Liang would attack Bingzhou in the north and Guanzhong in the south.

The situation on Feng Xi's side is more complicated. First of all, Feng Xi's central Jingzhou army will go straight to Nanyang, tying up most of the energy of the entire Guanzhong area, thus giving Zhuge Liang an opportunity to take advantage of. Then whether Feng Xi will go north or west depends on the subsequent situation.

As for Huainan, the two detachments of Deng Ai and Fu Rong would land directly from the coastal areas. Now the Yangzhou army has attracted most of Cao Xiu and Wei's attention to Hefei and Shouchun. Bohai County and Donghai County are relatively far behind with extremely loose defenses. Moreover, the Wei army would not expect the Han army to come down like this.

Feng Xi immediately summoned all the generals and told them about the preparations for the expedition. Originally, the Northern Expedition was a foregone conclusion regardless of whether Cao Pi was dead or not. Even before the Eastern Expedition to the Japanese Islands, some people were clamoring for a Northern Expedition, but Feng Xi overruled everyone and set the deadline to this year. It can be said that the preparations were sufficient and there was no need to prepare anything in advance.

Feng Xi also ordered people to notify Deng Ai, who had been on standby in Jiangdong, and Fu Rong, who was on standby in Wodao, to prepare to set off as soon as they received the information and act according to the previously arranged plan.

Feng Xi was not worried at all about Fu Rong. Cao Wei's focus was now entirely on the Central Plains. Apart from the border troops defending the northern border, there were no other armies in other places. Therefore, after Gongsun Yuan's betrayal, it took Cao Wei a long time to quell the rebellion of Gongsun Yuan.

Moreover, Zhang Nan’s navy will later enter the Yellow River and block the river, making it impossible for the Wei army to cross the Yellow River safely, whether they want to support from the north to the south or from the south to defend the north.

In this way, Cao Wei's battlefield will eventually be compressed into the Central Plains, but this also means that the Han army will also have a tough battle because the density of the Wei army will be much higher.

"Then, everyone, go back and start packing your bags. Follow me and set off in two days. We will first take Deng County, then Chaoyang and Xinye, and then aim for Wancheng!"

Feng Xi pointed to the huge map of Nanyang area hanging behind him and drew a road to the north, which made the numerous generals of Jingzhou feel excited. After several years, they were finally going to embark on this road to restore the Han Dynasty and launch an expedition to the north.

Zhuge Liang was also very emotional. When he received the news from Feng Xi and confirmed again and again that Feng Xi had checked the situation in Luoyang and that the Northern Expedition could begin, Zhuge Liang also shed tears of excitement.

It seems that the dream of Emperor Zhaolie in the past is finally about to come true.

(End of this chapter)