Chapter 368 In such a situation, Ma Su will die
Soochow was well prepared for this backstab, and dispatched nearly 100,000 troops.
In the middle, General Sun Huan was in charge, leading 40,000 troops up the river to attack Xiedong, the Yidao. If everything goes well, we will head west along the Yangtze River and find a way to follow the river into Sichuan. If it doesn't go well, the road for reinforcements from central Shu will be cut off, blocking the possibility of the Shu army's subsequent reinforcements.
A total of 30,000 troops were sent from the south route, and they went north from Jiaozhou Changsha, and together with Sun Huan besieged Wuling County, intending to knock off the Shu Han's forward position in Jingzhou.
The northern route was led by the governor Lu Xun, with Ding Feng and Zhuge Zhi as the vanguard. The total force was 40,000, heading north from the Han River. After Ding, Feng, and Zhuge Zhi repeated their old tricks and successfully crossed the river in white clothes and captured the outer city of Xiangyang, Lu Xun led the army to arrive, and then the army moved forward to attack Fancheng, the important town of Nanyang.
It has to be said that although Soochow is not good at Northern Expedition, it is extremely talented in backstabbing. There were a total of 100,000 troops, and every move hit the key parts of Shu Han's defense line.
However, after the army captured Xiangyang City, Ding Feng had been worried. He had actually fought with Ma Su, and that bastard obviously didn't look like a careless person.
But if Ding Feng was asked to tell what was wrong and what was risky, he really couldn't tell. Except for the few thousand people in the inner city of Xiangyang who were fighting against trapped beasts, the rest of the Shu army did not pose much of a threat.
So after thinking for a long time, Ding Feng's brain stopped responding and he began to concentrate on continuing the attack.
The focus of the Xiangfan defense line lies in Xiangyang. At this moment, Xiang Chong was suddenly attacked by Soochow, causing Xiangyang to be captured, and Xiang Chong was instantly in an unfavorable dilemma.
When Lu Xun led the army to kick him, Xiang Chong retracted his front line and returned his troops to Fancheng to defend it.
Lu Xun's army arrived, and Zhu Ran was assigned to lead his troops westward and follow the river to cut off the Shu army's retreat. Later, Lu Xun personally took up command in Fancheng and besieged Fancheng forcefully. The military situation was greatly shaken for a while!
At this time, it seemed that the Shu Han side was completely unprepared. Xiangfan in the south, which my family had been chewing for more than half a year, was attacked and fell by Soochow in a few days. The morale of the entire Han army still fighting in the north was severely damaged.
Seeing this, Cao Wei finally let out a long breath. Soochow finally took action from behind, and finally it was no longer their family fighting against the big devil Ma Su.
Encouraged by Soochow, Sun Li, who confronted Zhang Yi in Wancheng, received support from Guo Huai and launched a night attack on Zhang Yi's troops at night. Although the gains were not big in the end, Zhang Yi was forced to abandon the camp and retreat to Wancheng.
Then Sun Li's army came to Wancheng and divided his troops to threaten the Shu army's food route. For a time, the Han army's retreat in the direction of Yingchuan was in danger.
Scouts from Soochow and Cao Wei gathered here, all eyes fixed on the Han army in Yingchuan. In such a critical situation, what will Ma Su do? Will he have any clever tricks to turn defeat into victory?
However, what finally made Cao Wei and Soochow relieved was that the Han army stationed on the border of Yingchuan began to withdraw from camp and retreat.
First, the Han army stationed in Yingyin broke out of camp and retreated more than ten miles to camp on the first day. The next day, they retreated for more than ten miles and slowly withdrew their troops step by step.
The Han army in Jishui also began to pack up and prepare to retreat.
Obviously, Ma Su did not burn the boat, but chose to retreat safely. When the news came back to Xudu, Cao Rui was even more delighted and quickly held a court meeting to discuss whether he should pursue Ma Su.
"My dear friends, now Soochow has taken action, Xiangyang has been captured, the Shu army's retreat is about to be cut off, and victory is in sight." Cao Rui looked at the civil and military forces of the court, and his whole body felt much better.
The same goes for other civil and military officials, who all seem to be in a lot of energy. Finally, Ma Di was taken away, and Yingchuan was saved.
"Now that Ma Su knows that he is outmatched, he has already led his troops to defeat, and plans to return to Nanyang to resist. I now hope to send troops to pursue and defeat Ma Su in Jishui. I wonder what you, my dear friends, think?"
Cao Rui proposed the idea of pursuing Ma Di and expressed his hope for everyone's opinions. But soon, Sikong Chenqun stood up and expressed his opposition.
"Your Majesty, Ma Su is cunning and good at winning by surprise. Under his command, the Shu army is often demoralized under huge disadvantages and turns defeat into victory. Now that he has achieved his goal by retreating, pursuing and attacking is really not a smart move." Chen Qun stood up. He came out, looked at Cao Rui who was eager to try seriously, and advised him seriously.
"What's more, even though Ma Su is good at taking risks, he often has back-ups. Now that the Shu army is retreating so decisively, it's hard to say whether there is any conspiracy."
"I'm afraid if your majesty advances with frivolous skills"
After listening to Chen Qun's suggestion, Cao Rui frowned and felt unhappy.
Chen Qun's meaning is very simple. Our most basic requirement is to force Ma Su to retreat. Now that Ma Su has given up and the Shu army has withdrawn, it's time to stop there.
This is indeed a good idea, but it is not Cao Rui's idea. Having watched Ma Su ride on my face for so long, it would be unpleasant to think about it if I didn't catch up.
Can't Ma Su come to my land of Longxing to smash, smash, and rob, and then I'll send him out of the country as a gift? If this spreads, I, the Emperor of Wei, will be shameless.
But obviously, Situ Gaorou saw Cao Rui's thoughts very clearly and immediately stood up to report,
"What your Majesty said is true. Now our Wei and Wu armies, with more than 200,000 men, are attacking Western Shu and surrounding Ma Su in Nanyang. Now Ma Su has returned without success and his retreat has been cut off. This is the moment when the morale of the army is shaken. Such a situation I will definitely gain great success if I pursue you!"
"It's so-called that God doesn't take what he wants, but he takes the blame! The fighter planes are changing rapidly, so why hesitate? We will defeat this thief today!"
Gao Rou's words made Cao Rui look better, and then he looked at other civil and military officials to ask.
In the end, most of those who supported the pursuit said that Ma Su was at the end of his rope and his defeat was inevitable. Now the pursuit can not only defeat the Shu army, but also possibly capture Ma Su alive.
Chen Qun stepped aside and remained silent.
In the end, after everyone's opinions were basically unified, Cao Rui made the decision himself.
"Under such a situation, Ma Su will definitely be trapped internally and externally, and the army may be in chaos. Under such a situation, Ma Su will undoubtedly die!"
"The whole army is pursuing! I will personally drive and conquer, and lead the army to meet Ma Su in person!"
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Xu Du made a decision in the civil and military collective, and finally Cao Rui issued an order for the entire army to pursue. One hundred thousand Wei troops from Yingchuan pursued the retreating Shu troops from three directions, striving to completely surround Ma Su on the east bank of Jishui River.
At this moment, Ma Su's situation seems to be worse than that of Guan Erye back then. A total of more than 200,000 soldiers and horses from Wei and Wu countries pressed forward just to surround him.
There was a sneak attack before there was a pursuit. In just half a month, the battle in Nanyang seemed to have reached its darkest moment.