The Three Kingdoms: The Cold Gate World

Chapter 419
Ma Chao's rebellion took only a few months, but the prosperous Chang'an has been shrouded in clouds, people are panicked, and the market is depressed.

However, there was one thing that reassured the merchants in Chang'an. Ma Chao did not intervene in government affairs, at least he did not act aggressively. The money and food they handed over to Ma Chao had all been recorded. Xu Shu promised that Guo Jia would compensate them in the future.

With a lot of money and food to squander, Ma Chao recruited soldiers very pragmatically, and it was useless to use the money and food for pleasure.

Perhaps it was because the conditions he offered were too generous, and ordinary people could hardly resist the temptation. In just a few months, Ma Chao had nearly [-] recruits.

With [-] soldiers, Ma Chao no longer had to worry about Zhang Liao's counterattack or the threat from Yizhou. What's more, Guo Jia was too busy fighting with Sun Quan in Jingzhou, so he couldn't care about Ma Chao at all.

Personally supervising the drills of the new army, Ma Chao has done everything in the military, giving people a feeling: he is an out-and-out warlord!

Returning to the mansion from the barracks, Ma Chao was really rude. His current mansion belonged to Guo Jia, and he just changed the name of Guo Mansion.

He has already received information from Jingzhou that the Taiping Army and the Jiangdong Army have entered into a stalemate war. The two armies are biting each other, and it is foreseeable that a life-and-death battle will break out in the near future.

After understanding, Ma Chao closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then sent Pang De to invite Xu Shu.

Soon, Xu Shu appeared in front of Ma Chao with a blank face.

"Yuan Zhi, how long has it been since I invaded Chang'an?"

Ma Chao bowed his forehead, as if he was not paying attention, but Xu Shu knew that there was a murderous intention hidden in Ma Chao's words.

"The general knows it well, why bother to ask?"

Xu Shu replied lightly.

Ma Chao chuckled, not making a fuss, let's not talk about it, let's cut to the chase.

"Yuan Zhi, you once told me that Zhang Liao and Yan Yan only have one month's food and grass. Even if he has learned that I captured Chang'an and cut down on food and clothing, he will not be able to last for more than two months. Dare I ask, Your Excellency knows this. What's the matter?"

Facing Ma Chao's questioning, Xu Shu remained calm and said nothing.

If there were no Chang'an merchants to help secretly, the Taiping army at Hangu Pass and Wuguan would have lost their combat effectiveness even if they had not starved to death.

Now that things have happened, Xu Shu doesn't want to continue to pretend to be a snake with Ma Chao, so he is resigned to fate.

Seeing that Xu Shu was silent, Ma Chao didn't get angry, stood up and walked out.

When passing by Xu Shu, Ma Chao paused, and said leisurely in Xu Shu's ear, "Yuan Zhi, since you don't tell me, I'll go and ask Zhang Liao myself."

Xu Shu turned around abruptly, but Ma Chao had already stepped out of the door, turned around and disappeared from sight.

When the Taiping Army was about to enter Xiaoting in Jingzhou, another shocking change occurred in Guanzhong.

Ma Chao led an army of [-] troops to march eastward, and the soldiers forced Hangu Pass!

Hangu Pass is the most dangerous pass in the world, but the difficulty of attacking Hangu Pass from the east is completely different from that of attacking Hangu Pass from the west.

Hangu Pass is the east gate of Guanzhong, the enemy from home is obviously more difficult to deal with than the enemy from outside.

Entering Tongguan, passing through Taohuasai, Ma Chao brought his soldiers and horses to Xin'an, which is less than a hundred miles away from Hangu Pass, and settled down. This time, Zhang Liao was completely caught in the gap. It is open jaw.

Ma Chao led [-] troops, Zhang Jai guarding Luoyang also had [-] troops, and Zhang Liao, who was caught in the middle, had only [-] troops.

Yecheng, Hebei
After Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor, his first choice of capital city was actually Luoyang. However, due to the serious situation in Sili, he chose Yecheng as the second best choice. Now, Luoyang, Chang'an, the city of Qiaojun, where the Cao family was born, were added. Yecheng, Xuchang, and Qiaoxian have become the "five capitals" with the same reputation in the world.

After implementing the Nine Ranks Zhongzheng System, Cao Pi succeeded in stabilizing the internal affairs, even more united than when Cao Cao ruled, but Cao Pi was short-sighted and only saw the present, without thinking deeply about the changes in the future.

The interior is considered to be stable, and then Cao Pi will focus on the outside.

Sun Quan was made king of Wu, and Sun Quan expressed his gratitude.

Ma Chao was also named King of Guanzhong, but no response was received.

Ma Chao turned against Guo Jia, and he was unwilling to hug Cao Pi's thigh. Ma Chao was not at all interested in this Guanzhong king who was named by Cao Pi. Whether there is a king or not, Ma Chao is now the one who dominates everything in Guanzhong.

After Cui Yan, Mao Jie and others resigned and returned to the field, there are still many people around Cao Pi who can give advice, such as Xun You and veteran Cheng Yu, but these two are not only old, one is over 50 years old, and the other is nearly [-] years old In addition, these two are Cao Cao's right-hand men, they can be regarded as Cao Pi's predecessors, facing these two people, even Cao Pi who is sitting on the throne must treat them respectfully, so Cao Pi prefers the younger Sima Yi.

Cao Pi, who has been paying attention to the battle situation in Jingzhou, called Sima Yi and directly asked Sima Yi to look over the intelligence of Jingzhou and Guanzhong.

Sima Yi has always given people the impression that he is reticent, pragmatic, and conscientious. He first read the information on the battle between Guo and Sun in Jingzhou, and immediately frowned.

"With hundreds of miles of battalions, the Taiping Army will undoubtedly be defeated!"

Sima Yi blurted out without hesitation.

After listening to Sima Yi's analysis, Cao Pi asked back.

"If Jiangdong won a complete victory, wouldn't Jiangdong directly attack Yizhou?"

This guess makes sense, because the Taiping Army is using all its forces to crusade against Jiangdong this time. Once defeated, the worst end is that the entire army will be wiped out, and then Yizhou will be empty and slaughtered.

Sima Yi shook his head and said, "After the victory in Jiangdong, he will definitely not send his army westward to take advantage of the opportunity to seize Yizhou. Sun Quan bowed his head to His Majesty because of the situation, but he has always been wary of His Majesty."

Cao Pi suddenly realized that after Jiangdong won in Jingzhou, how could he continue to fight Yizhou? To the north of the Yangtze River, there are Cao Ren and Xu Huang in Fancheng. If Sun Quan really went to fight Yizhou, wouldn't he be afraid that Cao Wei would take the opportunity to go south?

"Since that's the case, then Sun Quan wants to defend Jingzhou?"

Cao Pi's deduction was affirmed by Sima Yi.

In this way, Cao Pi regretted it.

"A heaven-sent opportunity, once in a thousand years."

Cao Pi sighed unceasingly. If Sun Quan dared to attack Yizhou, he might be able to overthrow Guo Jia's rule in one fell swoop. This is definitely Cao Pi's dream. Of course, it is best for Sun Quan to finish Yizhou before they recover. Therefore, it would be best for Cao Pi to fully capture Sun Quan's territory.

After all, Sun Quan did not have enough troops to defend Yizhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou, and the territories of the three states. This is the same as the defeat of Gongsun Zan back then. Therefore, even if Sun Quan won the war with Guo Jia, he would not enter Yizhou , Sticking to the steady development of Jingzhou is the only way to go.

"Your Majesty, don't be disappointed. As long as Sun Quan wins, you can order Cao Ren and Xu Huang to seize the opportunity to attack Shangyong and Xincheng, and use the Han River as the boundary to divide Jingzhou with Sun Quan. In this way, our army can capture Hanzhong's strategic location, and it can be regarded as reaping the benefits. .”

Sima Yi didn't want Cao Pi to be a monarch who focused on temporary gains and losses.

As long as the Taiping army is defeated in Jingzhou, the Wu family brothers from Xincheng and Shangyong will inevitably lead their troops back to Yizhou. At that time, Cao Wei will take the opportunity to expand.

Sima Yi went on to look at the information in Guanzhong, and when he learned that Ma Chao was going to fight Zhang Liao, Sima Yi was overjoyed, and said to Cao Pi, "Your Majesty, the real golden opportunity is here."

Cao Pi glanced at the information on Guanzhong held by Sima Yi, and asked thoughtfully: "Ma Chao and Zhang Liao are going to war? Ma Chao wins, and he also sticks to Hangu Pass. Ma Chao loses, and Zhang Liao is still the same. How can this be considered a godsend opportunity?" "

Cao Pi was not excited. In his mind, the variable in Guanzhong should be that Zhang Liao left Hangu Pass to fight Chang'an. The result was the other way around. Ma Chao sent troops from Chang'an to fight Zhang Liao. What's the difference between sending troops to guard and Zhang Liao sitting in town?
Guarding the Hangu Pass requires troops, and it relies on geographical advantages. As long as it is not a bag of wine and rice, it will not be thrown away easily.

Sima Yi cupped his hands and said in a deep voice: "As soon as the battle on the west side of the Hangu Pass begins, the defense against the east of the pass will naturally be relaxed. If the dust of the battle settles and the victor re-arms his defenses, the best opportunity will be missed. Our army should meet Ma Chao in Zhang Liao. When the battle is fierce, take advantage of the void and enter, as long as you occupy Guancheng, Guanzhong belongs to Your Majesty."

When Cao Pi heard it, he suddenly felt reasonable, and he asked again: "What about Yan Yan from Wuguan?"

Sima Yi said nonchalantly: "Yan Yan only has [-] soldiers and horses. When he learned that Zhang Liao and Ma Chao started the war and our army joined the battle, he must have been very anxious. He swung his army northward and entered Tongguan to attack Ma Chao from behind in order to rescue Zhang Liao. And at that time, Cao Zhenke of Wancheng led an army to attack Wuguan by surprise, and went straight to Chang'an!"

Cao Pi stood up and paced back and forth, weighing the pros and cons.

There is nothing wrong with giving it a try.

In Luoyang, there is an army of [-] led by Zhang Jaw. When Zhang Liao and Ma Chao are at war, they attack Hangu Pass. If they succeed, they will have the entire Guanzhong and Northwest in their pockets. If they are blocked, they can retreat back to Luoyang to protect themselves. In the middle, even if you suffer a loss, can you go out of the customs to get revenge?
Having just ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, Cao Pi needed victories to inspire people's hearts, and more importantly, he needed to let everyone see his achievements in the military. He dare not say that he surpassed Cao Cao, at least he must have good ability in this area.

Therefore, Cao Pi agreed to Sima Yi's strategy.

When Cao Pi was about to personally handwrite the military order to Zhang Jaw in Luoyang, Sima Yi's complexion changed, and he bowed his hands solemnly and begged for orders: "Your Majesty, this battle will affect the situation of the world. If we can win, we will conquer the mountains and rivers just around the corner. Your Majesty begs for your consent. Your Majesty will let you go." I will personally go to Luoyang and join forces with General Zhang to lead the army to fight."

Cao Pi's expression froze. He didn't expect that Sima Yi, who was born as a civil servant, wanted to lead troops to fight. This is nothing unexpected. There is no distinction between civil and military. Sima Yi's military talent is recognized by everyone from Cao Pi to Cheng Yuxunyou.

And what he said is true, as long as Guanzhong and Liangzhou can be won, the situation of Cao Wei's platooning troops will be reversed immediately, and Sili will no longer have to hoard heavy troops, and it will be very calm to march south.

This battle can be won, Cao Pi, the emperor's dream of unifying the country, is [-]% sure.

After pondering for a while, Cao Pi agreed to let Sima Yi go to Luoyang to supervise the battle.

Having got what he wanted, Sima Yi took the order to retreat, and the moment he turned his back to Cao Pi, Sima Yi smiled knowingly.

If you want to win people's hearts and revive the Sima family, where do you start?It may be Shilin, but Sima Yi deeply understands that the lifeblood of any hero is the army!What he wants is to establish prestige in the army!

(End of this chapter)