Chapter 623: A sudden turn of events

Chapter 623: A sudden turn of events

"Your Majesty, things are not going well."

Regarding Ma Di's question, Liu Yin shook his head slightly and answered honestly. Facing his surprised gaze, Liu Yin replied resentfully,

"Originally, Yanzhou was not easy to fight. The smooth progress before was due to the active surrender of the local wealthy rightists. But now... the wealthy families in Jiyin are eager to fight with us."

Your Majesty, can't you hold the Heyin Diving Competition later? Being stuck at this juncture, how can I successfully conquer Yanzhou...

Strategically speaking, the timing of the Heyin Incident was very poor. The explosion of such a big thunder at this juncture will have a huge impact on the situation in Kanto.

Liu Yin naturally knew Ma Su's helplessness and last resort, but he still wanted to say that this incident made Jun Qianxiang a little reckless.

"Ahem... It's not a big problem. After all, victory cannot be achieved by compromise." Ma Di coughed twice and gently covered up the topic.

"Since the Yanzhou clan is unwilling to surrender, we can't be blamed. Starting from now on, the entire army will attack Yanzhou. I will personally lead the team to conquer Yanzhou first!"

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy anymore, Shijun." Liu Yin sighed and handed Ma Su the latest battle report obtained by General Yisi from Yecheng.

"Sima Yi, the puppet Wei Taiwei, has been appointed as the shepherd of Yanzhou and is in charge of the military affairs in the Central Plains. He has led more than 70,000 soldiers from Hebei Qing Dynasty south to Cangting, and they can support Yanzhou at any time."

"Including Yanzhou's original troops, the total strength of the Wei army can reach 110,000. By then, all the fortresses in Yanzhou will have sufficient troops, and the plan for a quick victory will basically become a luxury."

Yanzhou is inherently difficult to fight, especially since its northeastern counties include the Taishan Mountains. Now that Sima Yi, who is best at defense, is put in charge of Yanzhou, the quick victory plan can basically be declared bankrupt.

Regarding Liu Yin's report, Ma Su frowned.

"What the hell, wasn't it enough to beat Sima Yi in Guanxi before? How dare this old thief show up?"

Before in Guanxi, the person Ma Su wanted to kill most was Sima Yi. Unfortunately, he failed in the end and had to shoot Chen Tai to make amends.

And the consequences of letting Sima Yi, an old artist, escape are already obvious. Without this thing, Cao Wei would have collapsed, and there wouldn't be so many things.

This old thief Sima, why isn’t he dead yet?

Ma Su looked at Cangting, which was hundreds of miles away from Chen Liu on the map, and a fierce look suddenly flashed in his eyes.

"TMD, since Sima Yi wants to join in the fun, let him have all the fun!" Ma Di slammed the table, pointed at Cangting in the hinterland of Hebei, and said decisively.

"Xiuren, since you continue to attack Jiyin with 30,000 troops, if you encounter a county that refuses to surrender, you will immediately attack it!"

"Bo Yue, Shi Zai, follow me and lead the main force from Chenliu to the north! We will send troops to Hebei to make the old thief Sima lively and lively!"

Ma Di's decision stunned all Ji Han generals.

The initial plan for this Eastern Expedition was to send troops to capture the Guandong prefectures and counties that Cao Wei had abandoned. Therefore, from the very beginning, the Han army that left Hulao Pass in the east marched all the way south, heading eastward from Chenliu.

As for Dongjun north of Pu River, the Han army did not launch an offensive because the river was densely packed and unsuitable for large army movements.

If the Northern Expedition were launched now, the Han army would need to cross rivers such as Jishui and Pushui, all the way to the Yellow River. In this way, the supply line will be lengthened and the Wei army will gain the advantage of playing at home, so veteran generals generally do not choose this way.

However, when Ma Su made the decision, everyone was stunned for a while and said they would not hesitate.

After all, no matter how good you are in fighting, can you be as powerful as our mighty general? The general said that the Northern Expedition is possible, then there must be an opportunity for the Northern Expedition. Just carry out the military orders honestly!

"How are we going to fight? General, give the order. I, Jiang Wei, will definitely charge forward!" Jiang Wei patted his chest, smiled and took the lead in asking Ma Su for battle instructions.

"Your Majesty, I am also willing to be a vanguard! Open the way for the army to go north!" Deng Ai also bowed his hand and said to Ma Su.

"Very good, I already know your spirit of thinking about the big man... But, I have to come in person for this vanguard position!" Ma Di glanced at the two of them and said calmly.

"So, Bo Yue is responsible for leading the central army, and Shi Zai is responsible for leading the rear army. Just control the army behind me."

"This time, I will never let this old thief Sima Yi escape!"

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Ma Di's actions were extremely decisive. As soon as he set the goal of heading north, the army set off the next day.

However, Ma Di's surprise attack to the north was not an all-inclusive march northwards. In that case, the main force of the Wei army would have been waiting for him at the ferry before he reached the bank of the Yellow River.

He had to quickly cross the Pu River before the Wei army could react, and rush hundreds of miles to attack Baima Jin. Only by capturing the Yellow River ferry could the Han army have a chance to further threaten Hebei.

Therefore, Ma Di once again made the decision to divide his troops. He personally led 10,000 cavalry first and quickly raided the nearest Pu River ferry.

And this Pu River Ferry is the Yanjin Ferry. To the south of this ferry, there is a somewhat famous small ferry called Guandu.

Because the Han army was heading east all the way before, they passed by this place without paying any attention. Therefore, the Cao Wei garrison at Yanjin believed that the Han army was not targeting them, and because they had too few troops, even if they were vigilant, it would be useless, so the whole army had been neglecting to take precautions.

So, when Ma Su led the Han cavalry to rush over, the Wei army on the south bank of Puyang surrendered immediately.

After occupying the southern part of the ferry, Ma Su did not make the same mistake as last time this time, and quickly sent people to investigate the depth of the river.

Soon, the conclusion made Ma Su very happy. At present, the Pu River is also in the dry season, and the river is shallow enough for war horses to wade across the river.

After reaching this conclusion, the Han cavalry quickly deployed their formation on the south bank of the Yellow River. Under Ma Su's lead, the entire army rushed across the river and headed straight for the north bank of the Pu River.

As long as the scale of the cavalry is increased, the psychological blow to the infantry is huge. Especially in the face of the mighty crossing of 10,000 cavalry, the morale of the Wei army stationed on the north bank almost collapsed at the first time.

So when the Han cavalry landed on the north bank of the Pu River, the defenders had already thrown away their weapons and waited by the river to surrender. Except for their general named Cao, all the soldiers surrendered very quickly.

The only flaw was that the commander of Yanjin, Cao Jia, the son of King Cao Biao of Chu, ran away on a fast horse. His escape would surely let Sima the old thief know about the Han army's northern expedition in advance. So, after pondering for a while, Ma Su decisively ordered, "The whole army should throw away all unimportant things, only take five days of food, and follow me to march day and night to seize the Yellow River crossing!"