Cao Rui's face was pale, even his lips lost their blood, his hands trembled uncontrollably, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift his hands, it seemed that all his strength was drained by Cao Yu's military report.

This result was too shocking, the five thousand real elites were almost completely annihilated, Lixian was lost, the turbulent defense line collapsed, Ma Tan and Wei Ba conquered one after another in a few days - no, almost bloodless capture of the champion and the county, and the army advanced to the area of Fangchuanshui. The 10,000 reinforcements who rushed to support Cao Yu watched Ma Jian and Wei Ba attack the city and seize the land, but they did not dare to come forward to fight easily.

Even elites such as the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and the Wuwei Battalion have been defeated, what are their 10,000 people? Now that the Shu Han army has 30,000 people and its morale is sharp, aren't they asking for hardship when they rush up?

Fortunately, although Cao Yu and Chen Tai were defeated, they did not forget their duties. They crossed the Fangchuan River and organized a defensive line to protect Wancheng. Although this line of defense is far inferior to the turbulent defense line, it can at least provide a little warning to Wancheng, so that the Shu Han army will not come to the city.

Cao Rui was very disappointed. Cao Yu is a clan, Chen Tai is a young talent of the Ruying family, these two people join forces, and there are real elites such as the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and Wuwei Battalion, as well as the turbulent defense line, they actually didn't stop Wei Ba and Ma Yan, what else can he do to save this crisis?

Cao Rui invited Liu Ye and Jiang Ji. When Liu Ye and Jiang Ji heard the news, they didn't come back to their senses for a long time, and the two looked at each other.

"Two Aiqing, what are the best ideas to teach me?" Cao Rui easily stabilized his mind and made himself not look so panicked.

Liu Ye originally suggested that defense should be used instead of offense. Sticking to Wancheng, now seeing Wei Ba and Ma Jian attacking like a tide, pressing step by step, he also felt a little uneasy. However, it is recommended to withdraw from Wancheng and abandon Nanyang, and the responsibility is not small. In the future, once he is held accountable, he will have to bear great responsibility.

"Bixia, Wei Ba is scheming, and our army can't ambush it. Suffer from it. There are also unexpected ingredients in it. Now the plan is to withdraw Fang Chuanshui's army and stick to Wancheng to wait for its disadvantages. Liu Ye paused. He also said: "Wancheng still has 30,000 elite soldiers. The stock of grain can also supply a large army for several months. is enough to hold on, no matter how good Wei Ba is, can he still fly into Wancheng? ”

Liu Ye's words were not finished. Jiang Ji coughed: "Bixia, the minister thinks it's inappropriate." ”

"What's wrong?"

"Wei Ba is not only good at field warfare, but also good at siege. Does Bixia remember how Wei Ba overcame the strict pass? Does Bixia remember how Wei Ba conquered Nanxiang? ”

Cao Rui fought a cold war. The battle of Yanguan was clearer than Jiang Ji, and Xiahou Xuan's report had described it in detail. In the battle of Nanxiang, he also heard Cao Yu say a rough idea, and the others may not be clear, but the Shu Han army flew into the city but Cao Yu personally confirmed.

Even a pass like Yanguan can be overcome, and even Nanxiang can fly in, what is Wancheng? Wancheng is only geographically important, the city is solid, but in terms of geographical danger, it is not as good as Yanguan at all, and even inferior to Nanxiang.

Liu Ye was about to persuade him again, but Jiang Ji gave him a look and shook his head gently. Liu Ye had no choice but to close his mouth and sighed silently.

"What do you think about the Protector?" Cao Rui frowned: "Give up Wancheng, give up Nanyang?" ”

Jiang Ji shook his head: "Nanyang is the gateway to the Central Plains, and you can't give up easily." Since the Qin and Han dynasties, Wancheng has been one of the five capitals and an important town in the south, and it should not be abandoned lightly. However, the situation was urgent, and the minister thought that he should guard Wancheng with a heavy general, and Bixia should take state affairs as the priority and retreat to Luoyang. ”

Cao Rui didn't say anything. He understood what Jiang Ji meant, Nanyang is too dangerous, no one can say whether Zuihou can hold it, if you stay here, first, there is no guarantee of safety, and second, if you lose Nanyang in your hands, it will be bad for your reputation. It is a good thing to win the battle, and it is also bad for the reputation to lose the battle. The first emperor Weishenme died young? Of course, it has something to do with his good wine, but several successive crusades have been in vain, Zuihou was also attacked, and even the public driving book was taken away, and his face was gone, which is also one of the important reasons.

Now, that dilemma could fall on him.

However, if you want to save face, you must hand over the responsibility of Nanyang to a heavy general, and there is only one most suitable person: Sima Yi.

At this moment, Cao Rui couldn't care about suppressing Sima Yi anymore, so he would defend Nanyang first. But if you want to transfer Sima Yi to defend Wancheng, you must first give up Fancheng, give up Fancheng, Li Yan will enter Wancheng, can Sima Yi hold Wancheng at that time and hold on until the moment when the Shu Han army retreats? As soon as Xiangyang and Fancheng were lost, Nanyang was left with a fortress in Wancheng, and the geographical situation of Wancheng was far less than that of Fancheng and Xiangyang.

Cao Rui hesitated.

Jiang Ji and Liu Ye said goodbye to the palace, but Liu Ye still couldn't hold back in the end: "Zitong, Weishenme wants to persuade Bixia to leave Wancheng?" As soon as Bixia leaves, the army's spirit will be scattered, even if the hussar general retreats to Wancheng, there is no danger to defend, and he may not be able to hold it. ”

"Is Nanyang important, or is Bixia important?" Jiang Ji asked rhetorically: "Yes, if Bixia stays in Wancheng, she can still hold on, but if Lu Xun goes north to attack Kunyang and cut off Bixia's retreat, what will you do?" Even if Wancheng is still safe, what about the Central Plains? What about Hebei? ”

Liu Ye frowned, was silent for a long time, and sighed: "The autumn of survival." ”

……

Sima Yiteng stood up, his eyes widened, and the military newspaper in his hand rattled.

"Lixian County is lost, and the tiger and leopard cavalry and Wuwei battalion are all wiped out?"

Sima Zhao, who was sitting on the side, shook his hand, and the pen in his hand fell on the paper, quickly turning into a large ink ball. He didn't notice it at all, just stared at Sima Yi's surprised face, and said in a lost voice: "How is it possible?" ”

"Don't be surprised, this thing is ...... It's true. Sima Shi smiled bitterly: "The fine work I sent has also returned, and this news is true." The first duel was just that, obviously Wei Ba dug a hole, angered Cao Yu, and made him jump in. But the night battle later was a little weird, the tiger and leopard rode into chaos for no reason, and they collapsed before fighting, which is really incomprehensible. ”

"This shaft is really a god." Sima Yi gradually regained his composure, picked up the military report again and read it again: "In this way, he is no longer a weak person, he can defeat the Wuwei Battalion head-on, his strength is not trivial, not only in the Shu Han army, but also in the world, it can be regarded as strong." What a talent, in just a few years, he has changed from a little-known son to a major general. ”

"Father, not only is his strength surprising, but his forbearance is even more impressive." Sima Shi told the news of the investigation in detail, and praised Wei Ba's meritorious work, but he pushed Ma Jian to the cusp. When Sima Yi heard this, he also nodded again and again. He understands Wei Ba's situation better than Sima Shi, and of course he has more understanding of Wei Ba's approach. It is very scary for a young man to have such a heart. Sima Shi is a few years older than Wei Ba, and he can be regarded as a person of the same age who has a deep central machine, but compared to Wei Ba, he still sometimes seems to be unable to hold his breath.

This person is somewhat similar to Cao Chong, who died early, young and old.

It's a fierce rival. Sima Yi sighed secretly.

"Father, it seems that we may not have to defend Fancheng anymore." Sima Shi smiled, but very reluctantly. Abandoning Fancheng, although their father and son do not have to take responsibility, on the contrary, because Li Yan has not attacked, they "defended" Fancheng, which is still meritorious, but giving up Fancheng means that Wei has given up Nanyang, which is by no means good news for the overall situation.

"Well, when Wei Ba and Ma Tan enter the hinterland of Nanyang, they will not immediately besiege Wancheng, they will naturally turn back to clear the obstacles, and our army may be cut back. If Bixia didn't want to sit still, he would have ordered me to retreat, no matter where I retreated, Fancheng would definitely not be able to hold it. Sima Yi sighed: "The situation in the world is very unfavorable to me." ”

The Sima brothers also sighed.

……

"Good!" Li Yan slapped his palm on the case, a smile bloomed on his face that was indescribable with joy and anger, and his general report trembled. "Zidu, look at it, look at it, Wei Ba and they have won again. The tiger and the leopard ride, they destroyed the tiger and the leopard ride. ”

Meng Da was also taken aback, and hurriedly took it over and looked at it, and then involuntarily patted his thigh: "Okay, Sima Yi will definitely not be able to sit still now, Fan Cheng is at his fingertips." ”

"Hehe, it's not easy to get at your fingertips, but Sima Yi's back road is unstable, and he probably won't stick to it." Li Yan stood up and took a few steps back and forth, and Zuihou stood still in front of the map. He snorted lightly: "Hmph, with the help of Wei Ba and Ma Yan, the chances of taking Nanyang have increased greatly." Zidu, we have to pay attention to Sun Quan, after he took Jiangxia, he has been holding his troops, I suspect he has ulterior motives. ”

Meng Da smiled slightly: "The general must be prepared, forgive him and don't dare to act rashly." ”

Li Yan crooked his mouth, tilted his head sideways, and looked at Meng Da thoughtfully. Meng Da stroked his beard and laughed: "General, what do you mean by this, is there anything I haven't done enough?" ”

Li Yan smiled silently: "No, I'm thinking about what the prime minister will think when he hears the news." Will he regret not transferring Ma Jian and Wei Ba to Longyou, otherwise he would not have been under the fortification of the city now. Zidu, how long do you think it will take for us to solve the war in Nanyang? ”

Meng Da pondered for a moment: "In my opinion, no matter what the result of the Nanyang war is, the war will end before spring ploughing." Up to now, our military food reserves are almost available, and Wu Yi has transported all the grain reserves in Hanzhong to Longyou, and we ...... It won't last long. ”

Li Yan's face suddenly sank, and a touch of anger flashed from his eyes

(To be continued......)