Chapter 418 Northern Expedition to Xiaoguan

Chapter 418 Northern Expedition to Xiaoguan

Facing Xin Pi's suggestion, Cao Rui couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

This suggestion seems feasible?

In recent years, all the defeats Cao Wei suffered from Shu and Han were basically caused by Ma Di and Zhuge Liang. And because of Shu Han's geographical advantage, the two sides only had a few combat areas, so Cao Rui was unable to expand the combat scope.

But now, as the front advances, the border between Shu Han and Cao Wei has stretched for thousands of miles. From Nanyang to Hetao, there is a huge area for both sides to fight.

Because of this, the advantage of Cao Wei's large size can also be revealed. They can attack the Shu army simultaneously from three directions, Nanyang Bingzhou and Guanzhong.

For now, apart from Ma Su and Zhuge Liang, the only ones who are more difficult to deal with in Shu Han are Wei Yan and Zhang He. As long as the Wei army launches a full-scale attack, Ma Su will inevitably lose sight of one thing.

"This is a wonderful plan! It's very good to use it to deal with Xi Shu." Cao Rui nodded, pondered for a while and then suddenly said,

"However, the situation in Guanzhong is serious now, and the morale of the soldiers on the front line is low. I think we should go on a personal expedition, Xin Weiwei..."

"No! Your Majesty!" Xinpi was shocked, and quickly bowed his hands and persuaded.

"The situation in Guanzhong has not yet reached the point where His Majesty needs to personally march! Moreover, the attitude of Soochow is still unclear. The Central Plains also needs to be on guard. His Majesty is in Luoyang."

As a veteran of Cao Cao's era, Xin Pi is very aware of the current situation in Guanzhong. Sima Yi used all his strength and tried his best to resist the Shu army. We must not allow your Majesty to cause trouble at this time. If something happens, I am afraid it will not only be Guanzhong that will be lost.

Don’t forget, the journey eastward from Tongguan to Hangu is only two hundred miles!

Now the battle line is about to be pushed to the doorstep. Under such circumstances, no mistakes can be made.

What's more, Sima Yi also emphasized to him that for the sake of the morale of the Guanzhong Army, His Majesty now has to take the blame in Luoyang. If His Majesty went to the front line in person, not only would it not boost morale, but it might actually have an impact on morale.

Facing Xin Pi's persuasion, Cao Rui frowned and felt a little uncomfortable. However, after pondering, he still chose to obey, and just waved his hand and said,

"In that case, I will wait for your good news in Luoyang first."

"But there is no need to be nervous about Soochow. Now Sun Quan has also sent envoys to form an alliance. I have sent people to reach an agreement with them to unite Soochow to attack Western Shu."

"Don't be careless. Soochow is capricious and has no credibility. If they can attack Jingzhou and kill Guan Yu, there's no guarantee they won't..." Xin Pi reminded worriedly, but was interrupted impatiently by Cao Rui,

"It doesn't matter, I know it!"

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Under the pressure of the Shu-Han Guanzhong offensive, Cao Wei and Soochow came together again just like Guan Yu's Northern Expedition in the past.

Zhang Wen, the envoy to Soochow, surrendered on behalf of Sun Quan, in exchange for the position of King Wu of the Wei Dynasty for the Han Wuhou. The two parties reached an agreement to put aside their previous prejudices and work together to deal with the flourishing Shu Han regime.

At the same time, Cao Rui issued an edict, appointing Guanqiu Jian as general and supervising Xu Du's army to attack Kunyang. At the same time, Wang Jing, the governor of Bingzhou, was ordered to unite the Shangjun and Xianbei tribes with the Bingzhou army to launch an attack on Shuofang, the northern area of ​​Shuhan.

Finally, the governor of Xinpi was asked to lead an army of 50,000 from Qinguandao to the west to support Guanzhong.

Under Cao Rui's edict, the entire Guandong was mobilized again. Tens of thousands of soldiers set off from their bases, and countless civilians were recruited to start their corvee service in advance.

However, Ma Su doesn't know these things yet, but even if he knew, he would only be more excited.

At this moment, Ma Su had just joined the main force of the Han army at Lianshao and successfully pushed the front to the Fenhe River area.

Chen Tai encountered an ambush in Bei Valley. The entire army suffered heavy losses and most of them were routed. After Chen Tai himself was hit by an arrow in the knee, he was so frightened that he ran all the way to Linjin before stopping.

This caused Chen Tai's wounds to worsen when he returned to Linjin, and he fell ill in bed, hanging on by a thread. The Wei army under his command was even more panicked and their morale was very low.

This can be said to be the best time to attack Linjin and take advantage of the situation to invade Feng Yi County. However, Ma Su ordered the front army to stop at this time, and the vanguard army stationed in Chongquan County to confront the Wei army across the river.

Because in addition to Linjin, Ma Di also needed to deal with a threat on his side first.

That is, Xiao Guan, who refused to surrender in Xinping County.

Xiaoguan is located in Xinping County, with a dangerous terrain. It is one of the four dangerous passes in Guanzhong. In particular, Xiaoguan was located in the upper reaches of the Xing River, completely on the flank of the Han army, which posed a great threat to Ma Su's logistics and food routes.

As long as Ma Su is not careful, Xiao Guan's Wei army can attack Chiyang down the river at any time and directly cut off Ma Su's food route. If the Wei army sets out from Bingzhou, it can even attack the Han army directly from the rear.

Although Ma Su is not afraid of this, it is still a trouble, and Ma Su does not intend to leave such a hidden danger.

In response, Ma Su ordered Zhang He and Zhang Yi to lead more than 10,000 troops to garrison in Chongquan to confront the Wei army approaching Jin Dynasty. At the same time, Shu Ji and Zhang Yi were assigned to lead two thousand troops each to take over and pacify the remaining areas of Beidi County.

After arranging these, Ma Su took Jiang Wei and Deng Ai with him and brought 15,000 people to attack Xiaoguan.

Xiao Guan was previously under the jurisdiction of Chen Tai. When Chen Tai withdrew, he asked Xiao Guan to hold on, and the guard was an old acquaintance.

None... The son of General Xiahou Yuan of Baidi and General Xiahou Ba of Wei Zhenwei.

After Cao Zhen's death, Xiahou Ba's promotion speed quickly slowed down. At the beginning of the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han Dynasty, he was just a Zhenwei general, a subordinate of Chen Tai, the general of Zhenxi in the Great Wei Dynasty.

Chen Tai was defeated and left, so he was ordered to stick to Xiao Pass, ready to threaten the rear of the Shu army at any time.

For Ma Su, defeating Xiaoguan is inevitable. Moreover, he was already prepared for the Wei army to hold on and forcefully attack the pass to fight to the death with the Wei army.

But when Ma Su returned to Chiyang with his soldiers and horses and went north along the Xinghe River to near Xiaoguan, he received incredible news.

"The Wei army at Xiaoguan not only defended against danger, but took the initiative to fight and formed a formation behind the pass?" Ma Di couldn't help but feel a little stunned when he looked at the battle report sent by the scouts.

Has it been too long since the last time Cao Wei took the initiative to go to war? Ma Su had not encountered a Wei army who took the initiative to fight for a long time.

The last time Wei Jun was so reckless was the last time...

"General, this is indeed the case. Thousands of people from the Wei army at Xiaoguan have formed a formation with their backs at Xiaoguan. It seems that they intend to confront us head-on!" The scout nodded and reported to Ma Su in the affirmative.

"Your courage is commendable! After Xiahou Ba is worthy of being a famous general, he is just a fool like his father." Ma Di nodded and did not hesitate to praise Xiahou Ba.

After all, he wished that all the generals of the Wei army were so brave, so that he would have a lot of things left.