Chapter 140: Defeat Wu

Zhuge Liang has always had the habit of taking a nap for many years. This was the case when he was in the thatched cottage, but now he has come to Luoyang, which is even more so.

"Who wakes up first in the big dream? I know it in my life!" A bright voice sounded from the room, and the people knew that Zhuge Liang had woken up.

The servant next to him immediately served wet wipes and tea. Zhuge Liang cleared his face slightly, took a sip of tea before asking, "When I was sleeping, did anyone look for me?"

"When I go back to the Prime Minister, there are two people who claim to be the Prime Minister's nephews Zhuge Ke and Zhuge Rong. They come to visit the Prime Minister. The old slave has led them to the hall to rest."

"Yuan Xun is here? There is a change in Dongwu! Why didn't you wake me up earlier!" Zhuge Liang ran out before he even had time to put on his shoes.

"There are changes in the Eastern Wu, and the Eastern Wu has undergone major changes." Zhuge Liang flew quickly and kept nagging: "There changes in the Eastern Wu, and my major is settled. The destruction of Wu will be in the present day."

...

In the hall, Zhuge Ke was drinking tea and tasting snacks, which was quite pleasant.

Zhuge Ke was joining his family and his family was still placed in the inn, but Huang Yueying had already sent someone to pick him up. Next to him, the young Zhuge Zhan was sitting next to him, looking like an adult, but the curiosity between his eyebrows was also the constant peeking into Zhuge Ke's eyes betrayed him.

At this time, Zhuge Liang rushed in from outside.

Zhuge Ke's brothers immediately tidied up their clothes, stood up and bowed respectfully, and said, "I've seen my uncle."

"Yuan Xun, it's really you!" Zhuge Liang was happy on his face, and then pulled Zhuge Ke's brothers to sit down.

"Yuan Xun, but there has been a change in Eastern Wu. Has Master Wu passed away?" Zhuge Liang asked.

"My uncle really expected something like a god. Master Wu died." Zhuge Ke replied.

"Who is Shouchun in now? Is it Lu Xun or Sima Yi?" Zhuge Liang continued to ask.

If the previous sentence "The Master Wu died" was still within Zhuge Ke's expectations, Zhuge Ke was shocked. Before he could say anything, Zhuge Liang had guessed so many things. It is said that his uncle was as expected, and it turns out that this is true.

"Uncle, Lu Xun failed to design and seduce Sima Yi. Instead, Sima Yi used the plan to secretly repair the plank road and secretly escape to Chen Cang. Gu Yong was killed by Sima Yi, and Lu Xun retreated to Lujiang for a while."

"Lu Bo's words are over..." Zhuge Liang sighed, and then continued: "Lu Xun is a man of extraordinary talent, but he lacks courage. If Lu Xun immediately withdraws back to Jiangdong and contacts the Jiangdong family to raise them and counterattack Shouchun, it is the best strategy; go to Jingzhou to join Sun Shao, send troops to serve the king, but he can save his life and form a strong force with Sima Yi; but this is not enough to defend a city. Sima Yi only needs to issue an edict in the name of Master Wu, and Lu Xun becomes a traitor. No one dares to take him in, I am afraid he will not live long."

Zhuge Liang said, looking at Zhuge Ke, and then continued: "Brother, I once said that Yuanxun, you will become a great man. If my great man wants to destroy the Eastern Wu, what I need most is a naval commander. Yuanxun, I will take you to see Your Majesty and recommend you as the naval commander. With your talents, Your Majesty will definitely entrust important tasks!"

...

Luoyang, the imperial palace, morning court.

The atmosphere of the morning court this morning was a little different. On weekdays, some generals who would not come to attend the court all attended the morning court, and the court seemed crowded for a while. People with a little power awareness, when they saw so many generals coming, they knew that Your Majesty was going to raise troops.

I guess these generals were full of excitement when they got up. After many years of war, these generals were already idle. Whenever they went to court, they stood there and listened to the civil officials nagging that there was drought and flooding here, and they were drowsy.

"Your Majesty is here!" As the eunuch spies sounded, A Dou walked in.

After the ceremony of kneeling three times and knocking nine times, Adou immediately got to the point: "My dear friends, I have just received the news that there has been a change in Eastern Wu. Lord Sun Deng was dead, Sima Yi was in a mutiny. Now there is an internal turmoil in Eastern Wu. I think we should take this opportunity to launch an army to fight against Eastern Wu in the south!"

"Your Majesty is attacking Wu, I am willing to be a frontman!" Zhang Bao walked out with a quick step.

"Okay, my dear, I haven't finished speaking yet." A Dou waved his hand and signaled Zhang Bao to go down first, and then continued: "Xuan Zhuge Ke."

Zhuge Ke walked in with great strides, immediately attracted everyone's attention, and the ministers immediately started to discuss it secretly.

Adou pointed at Zhuge Ke and continued: "Yuan Xun knew the truth and weakness of the Eastern Wu. With Yuan Xun here, our army will achieve twice the result with half the effort!"

...

The civil strife did have a great impact on Dongwu.

In order to stabilize the situation in Shouchun, Sima Yi had to transfer troops from Qingzhou to Shouchun. Now Qingxu and the two states of Qingzhou are empty.

There are gains and losses. Originally, the troops around Shouchun were all under Lu Xun's control, but were later taken away by Lu Xun. In order to stabilize Shouchun, Sima Yi had to transfer troops from Qingzhou. Now, although Sima Yi has mastered the power of the Eastern Wu, it is equivalent to giving up Qingxu and the other prefectures.

However, Sima Yi felt that this transaction would not be a loss. Master Wu was still in his infancy, and the actual controller of Eastern Wu became Sima Yi, and Sima Yi suddenly became a Dong Zhuo-like figure.

Sun Shao, the governor of the Jingzhou Legion, was a clan of the Eastern Wu clan. Sima Yi had no choice but to continue to entrust important tasks and give him official titles. In Jiangdong, Sima Yi ordered his second son Sima Zhao to lead troops to Jianye and gather the Jiangdong family.

Sima Yi knew that the Han army would never give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For Sima Yi, what he needed most now was time. The ministers in the court seemed to be respectful to Sima Yi, but it is hard to say whether they were convinced or not. The Jiangdong family had a deep prejudice against Sima Yi. Whether Sun Shao of Jingzhou would be subject to Sima Yi's orders were all the problems facing Sima Yi. Such a huge country was suddenly pressing on Sima Yi, with internal and external troubles. What Sima Yi needed most was time.

Sima Yi believed that as long as he gave himself a year, he could stabilize the situation, but it was obvious that Adou could not give Sima Yi a year.

The day after Zhuge Ke arrived in Luoyang, A Dou held a court meeting and announced the southern expedition of Eastern Wu. Then Jiang Wei, Hebei, attacked Qingzhou, Wang Ping of Yanzhou, Xiahou Ba of Yingchuan, and Nanyang, Shangyong Li Yan attacked Xiangyang, and Guan Ping even led a large army out of Shu and attacked Jiangling. The power accumulated by the Han army over the past few years erupted at this moment.

Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, no other force in the Central Plains has been able to launch such a large-scale war. Five routes have raised troops to attack Wu, among which Jiang Wei and Guan Ping are the main forces of the Han army. Ma Qiu's Liangzhou cavalry followed Jiang Wei's army, and Wudang Feijun, wearing vine armor, went out to Bashu to attack Jiangling with Guan Ping.

At the same time, Adou issued an edict to the Di people in Yongzhou and Meng Huo of the Southern Barbarians, and ordered the Di people to gather 100,000 troops and the Southern Barbarians to assist 30,000 troops.

The Han Dynasty mobilized the whole country and made every effort to prepare for a battle to decide the Eastern Wu.

...

The main forces of the Eastern Wu in Qingzhou have been transferred to Shouchun, while Jiang Wei's main forces in Jizhou are very large, so it is difficult for Qingzhou to organize resistance. The Eastern Wu army retreated like a destruction.

As for Xuzhou, it has always been easy to attack and difficult to defend. For many years, whether it was Liu Bei, Lu Bu, or Cao Cao, as long as it attacked Xuzhou, there was no way to defeat him. Wang Ping was also a general who had been leading troops for many years. He did not spend much effort to attack Xuzhou.

Yingchuan was led by the brothers Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Wei. After Cao Rui surrendered, the status of the Xiahou family did not change. Before, the Xiahou family was a royal family of the Wei Kingdom, and now the Xiahou family is still a royal relative of the Han Dynasty. The Xiahou family who are slightly capable have been awarded official positions, among which the Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Wei brothers are the highest.

In short, Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Wei are both Adou's uncles, and they are well-known to Xiahou Yuan's true teachings. Their level and experience of leading troops are not inferior to any general of the Han Dynasty. When Cao Cao took Nanyang, Xiahou Yuan made many contributions. Now the two brothers have taken the footsteps of their father again, set out from Yingchuan to capture Nanyang.

Among the several armies, Li Yan, who set out in Shangyong, brought the least soldiers. However, Li Yan was the most experienced among all the generals and the one who A Dou was most relieved. Back then, Adou had set out from Shangyong to rescue Guan Yu. Adou knew that if Shangyong attacked Xiangyang, he could attack and retreat or defend. Especially after the Wu army in Nanyang and the Wu army in Jiangling were restrained, Li Yan's army no longer had to worry about the Wu army's rescue, and could attack Xiangyang with all his heart.

The most difficult route among all the troops is Guan Ping. Guan Ping set out from Yizhou to attack Jiangling, and the route he took was the one in history when Liu Bei defeated Wu in the Battle of Yiling. There were many mountain roads along the route, and the transportation was inconvenient, and there was a lack of suitable places to set up camps. The water surface of the Yangtze River was blocked by the Eastern Wu Navy. If the Eastern Wu adopted the strategy of the Battle of Yiling, strengthened the walls and cleared the fields, and defended the city, the Han army's logistics supply line would be very burdened.

As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy, the most dangerous journey is Guan Ping, so Zhuge Ke is also following Guan Ping's army. Zhuge Liang was determined to recommend Zhuge Ke as the governor of the Han Navy, and he could also take on this important task with Zhuge Ke's talent. However, Zhuge Ke's first surrender and his achievements were not made, he was immediately appointed as the commander-in-chief of the navy. Someone would definitely not accept it, saying that Zhuge Ke could only take on the important task based on Zhuge Liang's relationship. Zhuge Liang loved his reputation all his life, so how could he give people the opportunity to talk? So Zhuge Liang simply let Zhuge Ke go to the battle with Guan Ping and attack the most difficult point to attack. If he could win, Zhuge Ke would become the commander-in-chief of the navy in the future, no one would gossip about it.

Zhuge Ke did not embarrass Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Ke also knew that this battle was related to his future career and the face of his uncle Zhuge Liang, so Zhuge Ke tried his best to plan for Guan Ping and plan for Jiangling.

Guan Ping was also holding back his energy. Guan Yu was careless and lost Jingzhou. More than ten years have passed. Jingzhou has always been a heart-wrenching problem for Guan Yu. Now Guan Ping is on his behalf to fight for his father, and vows to capture Jiangling, take back Jingzhou, and avenge his revenge.

...

After some analysis, Zhuge Ke found that the Han army did not have an advantage.

The hills hundreds of miles long in Yiling were very difficult to supply the army, and the waterway was completely controlled by the Jiangdong Navy, so it was impossible to transport food and grass from the Yangtze River. If the Wu army held it, the Han army's logistics supply line would be very stressed. Even with the wealth of Yizhou, it would be impossible to engage in a long-term tug-of-war under such consumption.

But the Han army's biggest trump card was the group of Wudang Feijun wearing vine armor.

Before, the Wudang Flying Army had fought with the Wei army, and never had He Dongwu army ever fought. Zhuge Ke had lived in Dongwu for a long time. Although he had heard of the Wudang Flying Army, he did not know much about it.

Now, when Zhuge Ke saw the Wudang Flying Army with his own eyes, he finally realized the significance of this group of Wudang Flying Army, especially in such mountainous and hilly areas, Wudang Flying Army can exert 120% of its abilities. Zhuge Ke believes that the Jiangdong generals must be the same as before, and do not know the Wudang Flying Army.

Finally, Zhuge Ke thought of a plan.

Since leaving Zigui, the Han army has only traveled thirty miles a day, and only walked half a day a day, and camped for rest for the other half a day.

At a speed of thirty miles a day, it would probably take a month to go to Yiling. Therefore, after learning about the turtle-like speed of the Han army, the Yiling guard thought that it was still enough time, so he became jealous of underestimating the enemy and the construction speed of the fortifications was also very slow.

On the other hand, Wudang Flying Army traveled through mountains and ridges day and night, specially selected some mountain roads that were difficult to march and were uninhabited, and rushed to Yiling.

Ten days later, Guan Ping's army had walked less than halfway, and the Wudang Flying Army, who had traveled day and night, had already reached the city of Yiling. Faced with the sudden Wudang Flying Army, the Yiling guards were not prepared at all. In the Wu army's perception, the Han army was more than 500 miles away from Yiling, so there was no need to worry.

Yiling was broken, Jiangling City lost its barrier, Guanping's army marched straight into Jiangling.

...

In Xiangyang, Li Yan knew the importance of his army.

After breaking through Xiangyang, Jingzhou was cut into two sections. Jiangling in the south and Nanyang in the north would not be able to take into account both the beginning and the end. The strategic significance of this is very important. It is precisely because this strategic significance is related to the results of the entire Jingzhou that A Dou asked Li Yan to attack Xiangyang.

Li Yan knew that the sooner he captured Xiangyang, the greater the help he would be to the overall situation, so Li Yan did not use any other strategy to attack Xiangyang, striving to attack Xiangyang as soon as possible.

According to normal circumstances, when the Han army attacked Jingzhou, the Eastern Wu would definitely send troops to support him. However, now the Eastern Wu civil turmoil has no extra troops sent, neither Jiangdong nor Shouchun. In order to seize power, Sima Yi even gave up Qingzhou and Xuzhou and transferred all his troops back to Shouchun.

Faced with the large-scale attack by the Han army, Sun Shao had no other way and could only defend himself. The side effects of the civil strife in the Eastern Wu were finally reflected.

If it were the past, the Han army attacked in this way, with Sima Yi on the Eastern Front, Lu Xun went to Jingzhou, Gu Yong was in charge of the court, and the logistics were allocated. The Eastern Wu was more than enough to defend. But now that Gu Yong is dead, Lu Xun is in danger. Sima Yi alone needs to be in charge of Shouchun. Generals who did not have enough weight in the Eastern Wu line went to defend, and reinforcements were not delayed. The defeat of the Wu army was only a matter of time.

Two months later, Xiahou Ba captured Wancheng, and the Han flag appeared at the top of Wancheng, announcing that Nanyang had been broken.
Chapter completed!