Chapter 1025 Retreat

  A sudden cold snap swept across the country.

  Wei Jun in Hefei New City fell ill.

  As for Wu Jun outside the city, it was even more horrible.

   In just three days, the epidemic has already begun to spread in Wu Junying.

  If it weren't for Lu Xun who was guarding Chaohu Lake to guard against his pets, he urgently brought a batch of warm clothes over.

   I am afraid that the epidemic caused by typhoid fever alone may cause Wu Jun to lose 30% of his combat effectiveness.

  That's the case, the casualties of the Wu army's siege these days, coupled with the raging epidemic, have also made the army miserable.

   However, there is a shortage of siege equipment. Under such circumstances, there is no way to make up in time.

  So during these three days, Sun Quan could only watch helplessly as the city walls that had been destroyed with great difficulty were rebuilt by the enemy.

   "Your Majesty, although the Great General has sent some clothes over, it is still not enough."

  Zhuge Ke found Sun Quan again, and tried to persuade him, "The spies sent by the last general to the north have sent news again. It is very likely that Cao Rui personally led the army to reinforce Hefei."

   "Your Majesty, there is a serious epidemic in the army. There are not enough medicinal materials, and the soldiers don't have enough clothes to keep out the cold. If Cao Rui really comes, the army will be in danger!"

  Looking at the Hefei New City with its back against the mountain and the water moat, Sun Quan's face was ashen, and he didn't know whether he was frozen or angry.

  At this time, he missed the time when he led the army to attack Hefei for the first time.

  Because that time was the closest to success.

  At that time, Cao Cao was defeated in Chibi, and the city wall of Hefei was about to collapse under his own attack.

  Unexpectedly, the thief general Jiang Ji used tricks to make himself mistakenly believe that the reinforcements had arrived, and hurriedly burned the camp and retreated.

   I learned later that the Hefei defenders used grass and leaves to repair the city walls at that time.

  The reinforcements of the thieves had no time to reinforce because of heavy rain and muddy roads.

  Recalling the past, when Zhuge Ke mentioned for the second time that Cao Rui would personally lead the army to rescue Hefei, Sun Quan didn't know whether he believed it or not.

   It’s still the same sentence, Wei thief is almost unable to keep Guanzhong, Cao Rui doesn’t want to support Guanzhong, but leaves Luoyang, which is completely unreasonable.

  After these days of siege, although the soldiers in the army suffered heavy casualties, Sun Quan believed that the thieves in Hefei City also suffered a lot of casualties.

   Transferring Lu Xun to Chaohu by himself not only protected the rear of the army, but also held back Man Chong.

   As long as the reorganization of the army is completed and the siege continues, Sun Quan believes that Hefei will be captured sooner or later.

   But at this time, the news that Cao Rui personally led the rescue of Hefei came.

   It's hard to say that it wasn't fake news deliberately spread by thieves.

   It is careless to be fooled once, but it is really stupid to be fooled the second time.

  Sun Quan thought to this point, and finally made up his mind:

   "You can't retreat, the thieves are trapped in the city, and the situation will only be worse than us."

   Speaking of this, Sun Quan said firmly, "I still believe that now is our best chance to capture Hefei."

   "Because the Shu people have attracted most of the Wei thieves' attention in the west. If this opportunity is missed, the Shu people will not be able to give us such a good opportunity again."

  Sun Quan looked at Zhuge Ke, "Although the Shu people have an alliance with us, it is based on the joint resistance against Wei."

   "But if the Kingdom of Shu can really win Guanzhong, they will have enough strength to contend with the Kingdom of Wei alone. At that time, our Great Wu's chances will become even slimmer, do you understand?"

  Sun Quan continued to emphasize his tone, "It is very difficult for the Wei thief to divide his troops to rescue Hefei, so, Yuan Xun, don't you think the news that Cao Rui personally led the army is abnormal?"

   Zhuge Ke was startled when he heard the words.

  Because he never thought about it.

  He is still young, although he has led the army to win several battles, but for those old foxes, his knowledge is still somewhat insufficient.

   Or maybe I don’t have enough experience, so I didn’t think so far.

   "But Your Majesty, no matter whether it is a spy or a spy, it is said that the thieves in the north are very powerful..."

   "All the suspicious soldiers are very powerful! Now, you should go down, appease the soldiers, or prepare siege equipment, instead of staying here to persuade me to retreat."

  Zhuge Ke had no choice but to retreat.

   "Your Majesty refuses to retreat?"

   "Yes." Zhuge Jin shook the letter in his hand, and repeated what Sun Quan said to Zhuge Ke.

  Shi water flowed into the mouth of Chaohu Lake, Lu Xun stood on the boat, looking a little worried:

   "Your Majesty takes it for granted."

   "Huh?" Zhuge Jin thought it made sense at first, but Lu Xun had a different opinion. He couldn't help asking, "Why did Bo Yan say that?"

  Lu Xun pointed around:

   "If you say that before you and I came here, Man Chong divided his troops to attack the rear of the army, and it can barely be justified."

   "But now His Majesty leads an army of 100,000 troops stationed under the city of Hefei, and we have seen the rear of the army, but Man Chong still has not left this area. He has been looking for opportunities."

  Lu Xun turned his head and looked at Zhuge Jin: "What does this mean?"

"What?"

   "Man Chong did this because either he didn't care about Hefei's gains or losses at all, or he didn't worry about Hefei's loss at all. Tzuyu, which one do you think it would be?"

  Wei law is strict, losing land is a felony, and the crime affects family members.

  This is also the reason why in the battle with the Shu people, once the city fell, the generals who defended the city would either commit suicide or die before the battle, and few people surrendered.

  So Zhuge Jin also doesn't think Man Chong doesn't care about Hefei.

   "Bo Yan means that the reinforcements in the north are real?"

   "Besides this explanation, I can't think of any other reason." Lu Xun's face was a little dignified, "Man Chong is an old man who followed Cao Cao in his early years, so he should not be underestimated."

  Hearing what Lu Xun said, Zhuge Jin's face changed slightly:

   "Then Your Majesty..."

   "I will personally write a letter to persuade His Majesty to withdraw."

  As Lu Xun's senior general, he personally persuaded Sun Quan, no matter how unwilling he was, he would consider it carefully.

  Zhuge Jin said with some concern: "I'm afraid His Majesty will be unhappy because of this."

  Lu Xun said solemnly: "How can you disregard the righteousness of abandoning the country just because His Majesty is unhappy?"

  Zhuge Jin's lips moved, trying to say something, but in the end she didn't say it.

  In the past few years, the school affairs office has been so fierce that even Gu Yong, the prime minister who was with His Majesty, was reprimanded by His Majesty because of being slandered by the school affairs, and almost lost his position.

   Not to mention that far away in Wuchang, His Majesty has not been around, and there is a faint general who has become the head of the ministers (Zhang Zhao passed away last year).

   And Lu Xun is a person who is loyal to state affairs. Although he is away, he often writes to directly state current affairs.

  The disadvantages of the school administration are repeatedly mentioned in the memorial.

  Especially in the past two years, even Zhuge Jin clearly felt Sun Quan's alienation from Lu Xun.

  The name of the top general is the governor of Jingzhou and the affairs of the three counties of Yangzhou and Yuzhang, but most of Jingzhou's troops are in the hands of the hussar general Bu Zhi who is stationed in Xiling.

  Taking this troop dispatch as an example, the total number of troops led by Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin was actually no more than 30,000.

  If we say it, this can also be explained by the fact that Sun Quan wants to balance the power of the two major Wu groups: the Jiangdong gentry and the Huaisi group. (Buzhi belongs to Huaisi Group)

  Then, in the past, Sun Quan's personal letter to Ji Han was first sent to Lu Xun for his comments.

  Now, it has gradually become sent directly from the school administration to the Shu region, which is the most obvious signal.

  Of course, Sun Quan did not mean that he did not trust Lu Xun.

  He did this to follow his own political instinct, and deliberately suppressed the Jiangdong gentry who had begun to take full control of Wu's military affairs.

   And Lu Xun happened to be a typical representative of the Jiangdong gentry.

   In addition to political reasons, there is a more important economic reason.

   That is, the school affairs office has opened up the Shu people's network, and can get a lot of materials that Sun Quan urgently needs from Shu.

  For example, many of the warm clothes that Lu Xun urgently sent to the city of Hefei this time were made of wool produced in Shu.

  In the past, although Wu State also imported a large amount of supplies from Shu State, most of them flowed into the hands of Jingzhou military leaders and Jiangdong clans.

  Emperor Wu, the mighty emperor, can only drink soup after the local army chiefs and great clansmen. Where will he put his face?

  Eating fat and drinking enough, you forget what the last name of Emperor Wu is, right?

  So in Sun Quan's eyes, the contribution of the school affairs office this time is no small matter.

  As for the representatives of the Jingzhou faction like Zhuge Jin, they seemed a little embarrassed at this time.

   After all, in the transactions with the Shu land in these years, the wealthy clan of Jingzhou has accounted for a considerable share.

  Even if Zhuge Jin is clean and honest, he can't cut off the wealth of the elders in his hometown, can he?

   Otherwise, without the support of the elders in Jingzhou, how much power would Zhuge Jin have in Wu?

  But emotionally, Zhuge Jin tended to support Lu Xun.

  So in a dilemma, Zhuge Jin simply remained silent.

   It's just that Lu Xun considers himself loyal, so he doesn't need to think too much about it.

  He immediately wrote his own analysis into the letter, and at the end of the letter he urged Sun Quan to retreat, and then called his confidant Han Bian, telling him to deliver it to His Majesty himself.

  Han Bian got the order, did not dare to neglect, and immediately set off by boat.

  Wu Guo has few horses and is good at maneuvering boats.

   In order to deliver this letter to Sun Quan as quickly as possible, at least one horse must be killed in a horse race.

   There is no such problem when taking a boat.

  Not to mention that Han Bian felt that there was nothing wrong with what he did, even Lu Xun thought it was normal.

  It is only in the Hefei area, where there are many lakes and lakes. This method is not a big problem in spring, summer and autumn.

  The problem lies in the fact that it has already begun to enter the winter.

  Many Shuizawa lakes have dried up, and the range of activities that Wei Guojing can move has reached the maximum.

  In addition, this is the site of Wei State, Han Bian is not familiar with the terrain.

   Halfway, his boat strayed into a dry river and was captured by Wei Guojing, who had been patrolling near the river.

  Lu Xun's letter finally fell into the hands of Man Chong.

  Man Chong was overjoyed when he learned that Sun Quan believed that Hefei had no reinforcements and had no intention of retreating:

   "I lingered between Hefei and Chaohu, just wanting to delay the retreat of the Wu people. I didn't expect Sun Quan to cooperate so much. God help me!"

   Knowing Wu's high-level thinking, Man Chong didn't stop at all, and sent the news to the reinforcements who were less than a hundred miles away from Hefei as quickly as possible.

   The reinforcements were nominally led by Cao Rui himself, but in fact Cao Rui's condition became more and more serious.

   Coupled with the exhaustion of the journey, the body could no longer support it, and was lying in the Xuchang Palace to rest at this time.

   In fact, it was Zhao Yan, who had just been appointed General Hussars, who led the army to rescue Hefei.

   Zhao Yan, like Man Chong and others, was a veteran of the three dynasties of Wei State, and he took refuge in Cao Cao in his early years.

  When Cao Ruigang came to the throne, he was enfeoffed in Jin as the Marquis of the Capital, with 600 households in the city, and authorized to supervise the military forces in Jingzhou and holidays.

   It just happened that Zhao Yan was ill and could not make the trip.

   After he recovered from his illness, Zhao Yan first supervised the military forces in Yuzhou, then transferred to the Grand Sima Army Division, and finally entered the court as the Grand Sima.

   During Cao Rui's Eastern Expedition, Zhao Yan was the actual commander of the army.

  After receiving the news from Man Chong from the front, Zhao Yan suddenly had a plan.

  He first dispatched a small number of cavalry to move quickly around Hefei and plant more flags.

  Sun Quan guessed that the suspects were coming. After sending troops to test the attack, Wei's reinforcements really took the initiative to retreat for 30 miles.

   After reading Lu Xun’s second letter of persuasion, he who had already wavered a bit, could not help but strengthened his determination to capture Hefei again, saying:

   "I have already seen through the strategy of the Wei thief! Everyone just attack the city with all their strength, and ignore the thieves outside the city."

  Unexpectedly, at this time, Zhao Yan personally led 10,000 fine cavalry and launched an attack from the side while the Wu army was attacking the city with all its strength.

  Seeing the rumbling Wei Guojing cavalry appearing on the horizon covering the sky and the sun, Sun Dadi, who was originally confident and vowed to take Hefei, suddenly turned pale.

  At this moment, Wu Guo's army's camp layout is all for the capture of Hefei. Who would have thought that the enemy would suddenly appear from the side?

  Many camps on the periphery were immediately rushed to the ground.

   Fortunately, Zhuge Ke was reminded by Zhuge Jin and made some preparations in advance.

   Seeing the Wei army's attack on the periphery of the army, he quickly led the army to guard Sun Quan's middle camp.

   "Fortunately, Yuan Xun!" Sun Quan rejoiced in his heart, and then panicked, "I don't know how many bandits there are, we can't stay here for long!"

   Knowing that Sun Quan wanted to retire, Zhuge Ke hurriedly dissuaded him:

   "Your Majesty, you can't retreat at this time. If your Majesty retreats, the whole army will be defeated. Once the thieves and fine cavalry chase them down, the army may be unable to return."

   "Then what shall we do?"

   "The thieves made such a large-scale raid, in order to hide their eyes and ears, they must have come from afar. As long as they avoid their vigor, the thieves will be exhausted, and then they will retreat slowly, that's okay."

  Sun Quan returned from Hefei after several defeats, so he naturally knew that what Zhuge Ke said was true.

   It's just that when he saw the smoke and dust in the distance, and the faint shouts of killing, he still couldn't help feeling a little frightened:

   "In case the bandits break through the middle camp..."

   Facing Wei Guojingqi, Sun Quan always has a sense of fear.

   "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. I am willing to personally lead the army to stop the bandits, and I will not let the bandits rush to Your Majesty!"

  Sun Quan was moved: "I know Yuan Xun's loyalty!"

   Zhao Yan's attack this time naturally did not expect to defeat Wu's army in one fell swoop.

   After all, what Sun Quan led was a 100,000 army camped out, not 100,000 pigs running around.

  The cavalry of the State of Wei took the initiative to retreat after causing a large number of casualties to the army of the State of Wu outside Hefei.

  Hefei has been unable to attack for a long time, the army is plagued by epidemics, Wei Guo's reinforcements have arrived, and Man Chong has been watching the back road.

   After Sun Quan was attacked by Zhao Yan, he finally had to retreat.

   Just how to withdraw, this is another problem.

   Fortunately, Lu Xun, who had been guarding the back road, knew that the situation ahead had changed, and immediately led the army to meet him.

  Whether it is Man Chong or Zhao Yan, they are both afraid of Lu Xun and dare not get too close.

   Only when Wu soldiers retreated into Chaohu Lake, both sides breathed a sigh of relief.

   "Your Majesty, the bandits seem to have retreated!"

   "Retreat? Is the news confirmed?"

   "There should be no mistake. According to the news from Fenglingdu, there is a large army heading east from Tongguan."

  Feng Shishi, who had just wrapped himself in a down coat, couldn't help being startled when he heard the news, and then his eyes fell on the thin layer of ice on the river.

   "Cao! I was fooled! I asked why Sima Yi kept moving. I thought Cheng was really blocked by him. So I was waiting for this day!"

  The old **** was always there, and Feng Cishi, who planned to sit quietly across the river with Wei Guoda Sima, almost broke his thigh, and cursed:

   "This old fox!"

   "Your Majesty? This..."

   It's unclear why Junhou suddenly scolded people.

   "Jun Hou, should we chase after?"

   "Chasing a fart!"

   Governor Feng kicked a stone into the river, only to hear a "click", the stone broke through the ice and sank to the bottom of the water.

   "Tell me how to cross the river now? Row the boat while smashing the ice? By the time you finish crossing the river, the old turtle will have gone far away!"

  The river does not freeze, the worst thing is to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river, and then chase after them.

  Especially what he is leading is the Liangzhou iron cavalry, the speed is guaranteed.

  If the river freezes too thickly, it will also be easy to chase and kill.

  Because the cavalry ran directly across the ice.

   Only when a thin layer of ice has just formed on the river is the most difficult to pursue, and it is also the best time for Sima Yi to run.

  Because the river surface at this time, since it is impossible to walk directly, it is also impossible to sail directly.

   You can’t take a detour to Longmendu, can you?

   It takes six hundred miles to go back and forth...

   "Cao!"

  Although Governor Feng didn't think he could keep Sima Yi in Guanzhong, he felt that he could at least cause a little trouble for the other party.

   Unexpectedly, the old tortoise had already thought of this move.

  Even if I ran to Fenglingdu at this time, I could only watch him go away.

   "This old tortoise has a lot of courage. Chang'an, which has been in business for so many years, actually gives it away?"

  Feng Inspector cursed and cursed, but thinking that the other party was able to retreat unscathed under the attack of Zhuge Old Demon, Jiang Wei, and himself, he had to admire Sima Yi's ability.

  (end of this chapter)