Chapter 682 Battle
With Sun Quan's envoy Wei Yao on a mission to Cao Wei, Hebei and Jiangdong finally united together.
Especially under the threat of Ma Su, the two sides agreed to send troops together. It would be best to find a way to launch a counterattack while Ma Su was seriously ill and could not lead the troops in person.
Sun Quan's ultimate goal was to recapture Ruxuwu and regain control of the Jiangbei stronghold. Cao Wei hoped to recapture Qingzhou and the natural barrier of Qinan and fill the gap in Hebei's defense line.
With both sides in need, Wei and Wu began to mobilize. Both the Hebei Army and Jiangdong Qu began to station troops on the border and prepare for another battle.
Such a large-scale mobilization of troops from Wei and Wu was obviously not hidden from the scouts of the Han army. Soon, the intelligence of both sides was already on Zhuge Liang's table.
"It seems that Youchang's serious illness has given the pseudo-Wei and the anti-Wu some confidence. Do they think they can do it again?" Zhuge Liang looked at the intelligence confidently and couldn't help but sigh.
The Wei army sent General Guanqiu Jian to lead 40,000 troops to station at the Yellow River, intending to launch a counterattack against Qingzhou. The Eastern Wu raised 30,000 troops in Jiangdong, eyeing Ruxuwu covetously.
This was the first large-scale counterattack launched by Wei and Wu since Ma Su left Guandong.
Before this, they always defended the Han army with all their strength in order to save their lives. Unexpectedly, Ma Su's serious illness instantly made the two families feel that they were fine again.
"This is normal. After all, it has been the generals who have been fighting in the south and the north in the past ten years. Most of the victories of the Han Dynasty in Guandong are the masterpieces of the generals, resulting in the records of most generals being covered up." Deng Liang next to him smiled and took up the conversation, but soon shook his head with a little helplessness and added.
"It's just... maybe it's because you, the prime minister, haven't come out for too long, so that Wei and Wu have forgotten that you were the commander of the Northern Expedition!"
Zhuge Liang's military tactics are stable and strong in addition to his reputation. As long as he appears, he may not win a big victory, but he will definitely not lose.
Not to mention that the new generation of the Han army was cultivated by Ma Su. They are not as good as Ma Su, but they are not comparable to Wei and Wu, which are losing talent.
It is precisely because of this that Deng Liang and his group of officials in the Han Dynasty are so gloating.
Do you think that Ma Su is seriously ill and can't beat you, so our Han army is no good? Now the new generation of the Han army can stand on their own. If we don't beat you stupid this time, we will lose.
"Okay, don't be happy, and don't underestimate the opponent too much. Wei and Wu have confronted our Han Dynasty in the past, and they still can't be underestimated." Zhuge Liang shook his head gently, interrupting Deng Liang's silly smile, and began to deploy with a serious face.
"The attack of the Wei army in the north must be Qingzhou. First, order Bo Yue to retreat to the south bank of the Jishui River to set up defenses. At the same time, let Shu Ji stationed in Chenliu lead troops to help and delay the Wei army in Qingzhou as much as possible!"
"The requirements are not high. Just delay for one and a half months. After I defeat the Eastern Wu in Ruxuwu, I will go north to defeat Wei with them!"
"As for the south... I will personally lead the troops south and fight with Sun Quan in Jiangbei. Everything must be decided quickly, and take this opportunity to wear down the power of Wei and Wu to the greatest extent!"
Wei and Wu are now each in their own territory, and basically have some natural defenses to rely on. If they keep shrinking, Zhuge Liang's character will probably have to deal with it cautiously. But since the opponent has come out now, Zhuge Liang naturally can't let them go back!
As long as the enemy army is successfully led into the Han territory and then surrounded and annihilated, it will become extremely simple to destroy Wei and Wu afterwards.
Zhuge Liang quickly issued a series of deployments, and Ji Han's forces in Guandong began to mobilize continuously.
But at this moment, Zhuge Liang suddenly remembered something, and then hurriedly stopped Deng Liang and told him.
"By the way, don't let Youchang know about the counterattack launched by Wei and Wu... If Youchang knew that there was a battle to be fought, the guards of Xu County alone might not be able to stop him."
Zhuge Liang's instructions immediately made Deng Liang's face stern. Recalling Ma Su's previous record, he immediately nodded and replied seriously,
"Don't worry, Prime Minister, I will never let the general know about this!"
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Accompanied by Wei and Wu taking advantage of Ma Su's serious illness to launch the final counterattack. The entire Guandong could no longer continue to recuperate, and all the troops in various places were mobilized to prepare for the battle.
On the northern front, Jiang Wei, Shu Ji, and Zhang Yi were in charge. Among them, Jiang Wei was responsible for the defense of Qingzhou, while Zhang Yi and Shu Ji were responsible for the defense of Yanzhou together.
When Jiang Wei, who was in charge of supervising the military affairs of Qingzhou, heard that the main force of the Wei army was coming from Pingyuan County to Qingzhou, he suddenly became excited.
"The Wei army not only did not retreat, but came towards us? Isn't this a military achievement sent by God?"
"Quick, call the troops! I want to fight the Wei army in Pingyuan in person and prove to the general that I am his most capable subordinate!"
In the past two years, Ma Su has begun to gradually train successors and gradually transfer power. And now it can be seen that the successor chosen by Ma Su is Liu Yin.
This makes Jiang Wei, an old subordinate, feel wronged. I came first, so why did you, Liu Yin, catch up? So in the past two years when supervising Qingzhou, Jiang Wei has been working hard to prove to Ma Su who is the most capable.
Unfortunately, after waiting for two years, the Wei army has basically been in civil war, and the Yellow River defense line is even more watertight. Now Jiang Wei finally seizes the opportunity, how can he not be excited.
But soon, the general next to him carefully reminded,
"General Jiang, the Prime Minister ordered you to retreat to the south of Jishui and join forces with Shu Ji and others to delay the Wei army..."
"Delay? Join forces? How much does Prime Minister Zhuge despise me, Jiang Boyue? Is there any need to beat him to a few defeated soldiers in Hebei?" Jiang Wei pointed at himself and said indignantly, as if he had been humiliated.
"Not even the general would look down on us like this!"
"I don't accept it! I want to see the general!"
"General Jiang, the general... is seriously ill now after all. Our immediate boss is the prime minister..."
"That won't work! I finally found an opportunity to fight the Wei army. How could I give up like this!" Jiang Wei shook his head like a rattle and said extremely firmly.
Soon, General Zhenbei, who studied under Ma Su, rolled his eyes and immediately took charge of his plan.
"That's right! I'm not in Jinan now! I should be on the plain front line to defend against the enemy now!"
Jiang Wei quickly turned around and said to his subordinates, "In the future, when the Prime Minister sends people to question him, he will always say that I haven't received the order yet, and by the time I receive it, the Wei army has already engaged the enemy and cannot retreat!"
"In short, the Wei army has taken the initiative to join the pot, and I have to let them eat all the food!"