On March 11, the Han army camp in Leishou Mountain.

Shen Chen sat in the tent, looking at the latest official document that had been delivered, his face was neither happy nor sad.

Deng Ai and Jiang Wei below saw that his face was expressionless, and asked curiously, "Shijun, what's wrong?" ”

Because now is not the time for a military meeting, and there are only three people in the tent, so in private, neither of them will call Shen Chen his position, but Shijun.

Shen Chen put down the official document in his hand and said: "The prime minister plans to send troops to the Northern Expedition in May, and the general's side is also preparing for the offensive. ”

"That's a good thing."

Jiang Wei said with a smile: "Three Northern Expeditions, Cao Wei will inevitably take care of himself, and when Shijun takes Hedong, Cao Wei will have to resist the attack from the south, and we can take advantage of the situation to seize the state." ”

Since the Northern Expedition at the end of Liu Bei, Shen Chen has taken Chang'an first and occupied the land of the right Fufeng, the left Feng Yi, and the Jingzhao Yin Sanfu, which has been a year and a half.

Later, through preferential policies and government subsidies, Shen Chen attracted a large number of displaced people to go to the deserted Guanzhong area to reclaim, thus solving the problem of grain and grass to a certain extent, and was very well prepared, taking the lead in starting the war again this year.

According to the agreement, Shen Chen's side will fight first, if Cao Wei's forces in the south can be attracted to Guanzhong, it is best to make Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu's Cao Wei defense line weaker. If Cao Wei hadn't sent people to help, then by the middle of this year or the second half of the year, Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu would be ready, and the war would have started.

Now Shen Chen's offensive on the Western Front is quite smooth, and yesterday Pang De had already sent someone to deliver a letter, saying that he had successfully broken through the county seat of Pishi, carried out a counter-ambush when Zhu Ling retreated, killed Zhu Ling, and waited for a little rest for two days before following Shen Chen's deployment and going south by boat.

As long as the plan of the three breads is completed and Cao Zhen is defeated, the Cao army on the Western Front will be under great pressure.

At that time, the entire Cao Wei court would face the danger of Shen Chen's troops directly attacking the state, and even directly attacking Hanoi County through Wangwu Mountain, threatening Luoyang, the capital of Cao Wei.

So looking at the situation is obviously better for them.

However, Shen Chen was not too happy, but said: "Recently, we reported in Cao Wei's detailed work that Cao Rong sent about 10,000 cavalry to Hedong to help. ”

"More than 10,000 cavalry?"

Jiang Wei and Deng Ai glanced at each other, it seemed that there were not many cavalry of more than 10,000 people, but the situation in Hedong was half a pound and eight taels of troops on both sides, although Pang De defeated Zhu Ling, but on the whole, Cao Wei's troops were about the same as them.

Therefore, when the two sides are stuck in a stalemate and confrontation, more than 10,000 cavalry may play a decisive role, no wonder Shi Jun's face is not much happier because the prime minister is preparing for the Northern Expedition.

Deng Ai then said: "Shijun, why don't you let General Ma return to Hedong from Huayin first, and after defeating the enemy's cavalry, then return to Huayin to prepare to cross the river to attack." ”

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "Ma Dai has other tasks in Huayin, so don't move lightly. ”

Ma Dai's role was not only to cross the Yellow River to attack Cao Zhen's rear, but also to guard Huayin and prevent Cao Wei's troops and horses from harassing Chang'an at Tongguan.

Shen Chen actually stayed in Chang'an with thousands of people, but Cao Wei's 50,000 people couldn't hold Chang'an, and it was obviously impossible for this manpower to defend the huge Chang'an City, not to mention that Cao Wei was really smart not to fight Chang'an City, but to attack the people.

As long as the people around Chang'an were attacked and killed or driven away, Shen Chen would not be able to take food on the spot, which would cause a major blow to his labor expedition, so Ma Dai's task was still very critical.

Deng Ai pondered: "What should I do?" ”

Shen Chen muttered: "Actually, I'm not worried about the more than 10,000 cavalry here, as long as it is not a frontal battle in the field, the role of these cavalry is not as great as imagined. ”

"Where is the master?"

Jiang Wei was puzzled, since he was not worried about Cao Wei's reinforcements, what was he worried about.

Shen Chen said: "I reported to Cao Wei in detail, a few days ago, Cao Rong issued an edict to let the major families donate to buy grades. The middle grade can be upgraded to the upper grade, and the lower grade can be upgraded to the middle grade. There are countless Cao Wei families, I'm afraid they will break their heads for these places? ”

"Profit?"

Deng Ai couldn't help but say: "What's the difference between this and buying an official?" ”

"It's kind of a fig leaf."

Shen Chen said: "During the period of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, the market was opened in the palace, and officials could directly buy officials and promote ranks. Cao Wei is buying and selling the rank of the family, although it is only to promote the rank and not sell the official position, but the children of the middle and lower grades of the family cannot hold high positions, but now there is an upward channel, and there will inevitably be a large number of people who will rush to donate money and contribute to Cao Wei. ”

This is what Shen Chen is most worried about.

Unlike the Han Dynasty in the south, Cao Wei had a relatively small number of registered people and fields directly controlled by the imperial court, and most of the people's fields were controlled by the family and became hidden households.

In fact, Cao Wei's tuntian system itself was no different from the hidden household and hidden property, Cao opened his own manor to turn the tuntian people into his own tenants, and then used the income generated by these tenants to recruit soldiers, fight wars to expand the territory, and at the same time control the central government in the name of Liu Xie, the son of heaven, and finally reached the top step by step.

So in a sense, the Cao family itself is the family with the most land and population, but now the tenants below him are living too hard, and they are making a rebellion, so they are forced to start looking for other family families to ask for food, grass and materials.

The problem is that in the past, Cao Wei could conquer the world by squeezing his own tenants, thus holding most of the power in his own hands. Not now, Cao Wei obviously wants to open up power, so that more families can join this carnival of power, and the degree of alliance with the family is higher.

This is certainly not a good thing for Cao Wei's politics, just like the family gate lords in the two Jin Dynasty were almost riding on the head of the imperial power, because the power of the court was controlled by the family, resulting in the collapse of the imperial power and the power of the family.

But for Cao Wei's military, it will be greatly enhanced.

With the population and grain and grass supplement of the family gate, the problem of Cao Wei's shortage of soldiers and horses will be solved, and it will be quite difficult to succeed in the Northern Expedition and dominate the world.

When Deng Ai heard this, he also realized the key to what Shen Chen said, and frowned: "Cao Wei wants to mobilize the enthusiasm of the landlord class to oppose us. ”

He has followed Shen Chen for so many years, and he has learned political theory very well.

Shen Chen nodded: "The situation that the Great Han can have now is that we helped the Qianshou class defeat the landlord class and won the support of the people." The northern clans controlled a large number of people and land through the manor economy, and only a handful supported Cao Wei's rule, which meant that their war potential was still great. ”

"So what should we do now?"

Jiang Wei asked.

Shen Chen thought for a moment, looked around and said, "Although Cao Wei did this, it was tantamount to drinking to quench his thirst. The hermit population of the Maison does not mean that they really support the Maison, and if we can find a good direction, we may be able to dismantle the enemy from within. ”

"Internal disintegration?"

Deng Ai was puzzled: "I'm afraid it's not easy, Shijun wants to spread the idea of "On Man", but the people at the bottom can't reach it at all, how can they be dismantled?" ”

Shen Chen said with a smile: "The way to disintegrate is very simple, even if Cao Wei recruits these family slaves as soldiers and horses, their combat effectiveness is far inferior to Cao Wei's elite, and when they fight, they aim at these people to attack, they are easy to be defeated, and there are many casualties, they naturally don't want to continue to work hard, and they will fight again in the future, even if Cao Wei has millions of soldiers and horses, they are just local chickens and dogs." ”

"I see."

The two of them suddenly realized, and they both thought it was true.

The people recruited by the big families must be their own tenants as soldiers, these people's ability to fight is far inferior to the Cao army who has been trained for many years, and it is natural for them to rush to the battlefield in a hurry, and when they encounter the enemy, they will be defeated first, and if there are more casualties, they will not necessarily work for Cao Wei again, and then it may lead to an internal rebellion, which is the time for them to break Cao Wei.

"Hmm."

Shen Chen nodded, stood up from the seat and said, "Let Cao Wei blow the wind and rain, I will not move, now Cao Zhen is blocked by me in Leishou Mountain, and Xu Huang is besieged in the city." Even if Cao Wei sent reinforcements, he couldn't save the situation, so wait, and when the other side couldn't hold on, it would be time for us to counterattack. ”

"Yui!"

Deng Ai and Jiang Wei both bowed.

Now for them, the cards have been played, and they are sitting firmly in the Diaoyutai, and it depends on how Cao Wei's side picks up.

．

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The first year of Han Jianxing and the first year of Wei Taihe have reached an extremely critical moment for Cao Wei and Liu Han.

On March 18, Sun Li rode on horseback and looked into the distance.

He had now reached Leishou Mountain, where the mountains on the right side overlapped, the Yellow River on the left side was rolling, and on the vast plain in the middle, the original forest had almost been cut down into a flat land and turned into a grassland.

There are more than 10 camps on the grassland, the camps are more than ten miles long, and the black Cao Weijing flag covers the sky and the sun, like a black cloud across the west side of Leishou Mountain.

Sun Li's 8,000 cavalry appeared in the rear of Cao Wei, and was soon detected by Cao Jun, and after the two sides communicated, the gate of Cao Ying's camp opened, and Sun Li himself came closer, Cao Zhen rode out surrounded by the guards, and looked at him puzzled.

"Sun Li."

Cao Zhen wondered, "Didn't I let you go to the Pi clan to help Zhu Ling?" ”

Shen Chen attacked Pusaka on February 9, and Cao Rong received the news on February 13, and then sent Sun Li as reinforcements.

At that time, Sun Li arrived at Tongguan where Cao Zhen was located on February 23, and Cao Zhen knew that Zhu Ling's Pi clan was being bombed indiscriminately by Pang De's catapult at that time, and there was a danger of breaking the city, so he sent him to cross the Yellow River and go to Pi's support from Zhongtiao Mountain.

The straight-line distance between Tongguan and Pishi County is actually relatively close, only more than 120 kilometers. But it was a plane route, and if you really want to go, you have to go around Nakajo Mountain, which is about 300 kilometers, and the road is extremely long.

So Sun Li traveled a long distance again, from Tongguan to Zhongtiao Mountain, and detoured to Anyi County to support Pi's, but he didn't expect him to come back suddenly.

Sun Li said to Cao Zhen with a wry smile: "Governor Dadu, the last general met Zhu Ling's rout halfway, only to know that Pang De had broken through the Pishi County a few days ago, and Zhu Ling was killed by him. ”

"What?"

Cao Zhen was shocked and said, "The Pi clan was broken, and Zhu Ling died?" ”

"Yes."

Sun Li nodded.

Cao Zhen frowned, turned his horse and said, "Go back to the camp and start a military discussion." ”

"Yui."

Sun Li followed him into the camp.

Soon Cao Zhen convened the generals to discuss the matter, and more than ten senior generals in the camp gathered together.

Cao Zhen looked around and said, "Everyone, Zhu Ling didn't wait for reinforcements, the city of the Pi clan has been broken, and only Xu Huang is still holding on to Pusaka in the entire Hedong County." ”

"Cracked?"

"No wonder Shen Chen wants to block us in Leishou Mountain, after the Pi clan is broken, Pang De will definitely reinforce Pu Ban, and Xu Huang may not last long."

"What can I do about this, isn't the Han army going straight to Merge State?"

"Let's see what the Metropolitan has to say."

The generals immediately discussed, Hedong is connected to the state, and the state has Taihang Bacheng, which can reach Hebei, if Shen Chen occupies Hedong County, take the state that has not much defense now, including Hanoi County and Luoyang, will be threatened by the Han army.

So for this embarrassing situation, it is obvious that the generals are quite uneasy.

Cao Zhen looked at the uneasy generals below, pondered for a moment, and said: "It is a fact that the Pi clan was broken, but Pusaka was not broken, and before our army was repulsed, Shen Chenyan dared to take the state directly?" There is no need to be afraid. ”

"That's right, we are stationed in Leishou Mountain, even if he wins Hedong County, if he wants to capture Bingzhou, he has to worry about the follow-up grain route being cut off by us, and Shen Chen is not so bold to go deep alone."

A general said: "Governor, I'm afraid that Xu Huang's side won't be able to support it for too long." Once Kabasaka is broken, then we will probably have to retreat and go back. ”

"Hmm."

Cao Zhen's serious face remained solemn, nodded and said, "Yes, the top priority now is to keep Pusaka, and to keep Pusaka, you must break Shen Chen." ”

The general Dong Bi said: "But Shen Chen's camp is standing in the middle of the road, blocking our way, the battle card is hanging, even if we go down to the battle book, we don't see any movement, obviously planning to shrink the camp and can't come out, how can we break it?" ”

In fact, there were only more than 10,000 people on Shen Chen's side, while Cao's army had nearly 50,000, plus Sun Li's army even had 60,000, occupying an absolute advantage in terms of troops.

But the problem is that Shen Chen just can't avoid the battle, and they can't do anything about him.

Cao Zhen looked around and saw Zhou Sheng, the cavalry general who replaced Sun Li and Xu Shang after their deaths, so he took out the map, looked at it for a long time, and said in a deep voice: "I have a way." ”

"Oh?"

The soldiers hurriedly looked at Cao Zhen.

Cao Zhen said: "Ladies and gentlemen, there is only less than seventy miles from Leishou Mountain to Puban, and it is probably a day's journey, right?" ”

"Not bad."

Dong Bi said: "Shen Chen is stationed here to cover the army surrounding Pusaka in the rear to attack the city. ”

Cao Zhen said: "Shen Chen's camp is equipped with countless defensive equipment, and it is not easy to attack it, but I don't believe that his rear is also so difficult to fight. What would happen if Zhou Sheng and Sun Li's cavalry made a detour to Zhongtiao Mountain and raided Shen Chen's camp from the rear? ”

"This"

Aribu General hesitated: "Wouldn't this be too risky?" Kasaka was too close, and if they found out in advance and immediately sent reinforcements to rescue them, the cavalry that made a surprise attack would be wiped out. ”

Cao Zhen shook his head: "Only in this way can we quickly defeat Shen Chen, and then rush to the aid of Pusaka, otherwise if we continue to wait here, Xu Huang will be wiped out." ”

"Amount"

Everyone looked at each other, and although this strategy was risky, it did make sense.

Behind Shen Chen was his main army, so it was unlikely that even the rear camp would be so heavily guarded and fully equipped.

As long as their side launched a fierce attack first, and the cavalry suddenly appeared behind him, it was really possible to break through Shen Chen, in case Shen Chen was killed, wouldn't it be a great merit?

Thinking of this, everyone agreed.

"The Grand Duke's plan is indeed wonderful, and the general thinks he can try it."

"Yes, there is nothing that does not take risks when marching and fighting, so it should be fought like this."

"The last general seconded."

"Okay."

Seeing that everyone was supportive, Cao Zhen said: "Send scouts immediately, you must first find out Pound's movements, if he does not go to Pusaka, but gallops to help Leishou Mountain, then the situation will be different, or you should be careful." ”

"Yui!"

Everyone should give it up.

At that moment, Cao Zhen immediately sent scouts to investigate Pang De's situation first.

(End of chapter)