Mi Han

Chapter 734: Necessary Sacrifice to Seize Wancheng
After knowing Mi Yang's true purpose, Zhang He's mind was now a mess.

Zhang He couldn't help but recall the scene when he last met Mi Yang.

After recalling the past, Zhang He looked up at Mi Yang with a confused look, and asked:
"The Grand Marshal sent Shi Bao to Yong'an in the first place, was it for today?"

Faced with Zhang He's question, Mi Yang felt that there was no need to hide it from Zhang He anymore, so he nodded.

But Mi Yang's nod made Zhang He even more confused.

Zhang He was a person who loved analyzing strategies.

Now his hobby has completely confused his thoughts.

"Let Shi Bao go to Yong'an and let everyone in the world know your determination to support Yong'an.

In this way, Lu Xun would not dare to be careless, and in order to ensure Yong'an to the greatest extent, he would contact Cao Xiu to send troops.

Once Cao Xiu sends out his troops, you, the Grand Marshal, will have a reason to lead your troops north. In Lu Xun's view, this move of yours will only be seen as an act of helplessness on your part, instead of thinking that it is part of your plan.

After you led your army to Yiyang County, you saw that Cao Xiu had no intention of fighting, so you thought of turning the passive situation into the active one and taking over Bowang as the key to breaking the deadlock.

Because you know that Cao Rui will be terrified if Bowang is lost.

Cao Rui at this time was just like Lu Xun some time ago.

In order to ensure the safety of Xuchang, Cao Rui will follow Lu Xun's example and use the Wu army as external aid.

As long as things develop to this point, there is a great possibility that Lu Xun will lead his army to attack the heartland of Jingzhou, and you will find an opportunity to defeat him!"

Zhang He explained Mi Yang's entire plan sentence by sentence.

After explaining it clearly, Zhang He stared at Mi Yang closely and said subconsciously in disbelief:

"When lips and teeth are gone, they will be cold. This is a truth passed down from the Spring and Autumn Period and has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts.

And you want to use this truth to lure Wu's army deeper into our territory.

Da Sima, your grasp of people's hearts is truly amazing."

As Mi Yang's full plan was revealed, Zhang He's thoughts gradually returned to normal.

After Zhang He's thoughts returned to normal, he was truly impressed by the strategy displayed by Mi Yang.

Taking the city of Yong'an as an opportunity and relying on people's hearts, Mi Yang planned a chess game that would put the Wu army in a desperate situation.

With such wisdom and courage, how could Zhang He not be impressed?

But Zhang He was still a little confused.

"People's hearts are always changing. What if Lu Xun and Cao Rui don't do what you, the Grand Marshal, want?"

Although it is true that the lips and teeth are interdependent, and Cao Rui and Lu Xun are not stupid people, but as Zhang He said, human hearts are fickle.

No one can guarantee that Mi Yang's previous speculations will come true.

What if something goes wrong in one link?

After hearing Zhang He's question, Mi Yang laughed and said:
"For the Han Dynasty, even if Cao Rui and Lu Xun do not follow my idea, what loss will there be?

If Lu Xun does not ask Cao Xiu for help, then I can focus on the east.

Although the Eastern Wu navy is difficult to defeat, I am not afraid to fight.

The worst result is that I missed the opportunity to capture Yong'an.

And if Cao Xiu wanted to fight, or if your surprise attack on Bowang failed, or if Cao Rui did not ask for help from Eastern Wu, then it would actually not be a big deal.

If Cao Xiu dares to ask for a fight or your surprise attack on Bowang fails, I will personally set up the defense line and then lead my army to rescue Yong'an.

And if after you capture Bowang, Cao Rui does not ask for help from the Eastern Wu, or if Lu Xun sees through my plan, the worst that can happen to me is that I will focus on planning the capture of Wancheng.

The capture of Wancheng was a significant victory for the Han Dynasty.

No matter what the situation is, I will take advantage of the situation and will not let the interests of the Han Dynasty suffer any losses.

With this guaranteed, I have nothing to worry about."

After speaking his mind, Mi Yang was silent for a while, but then he said:

"Zhongrong is in Yong'an, I can't just stand by and watch him die.

But watching someone die without helping them is not the same as trying hard but failing to save them. "

Mi Yang said these two sentences with a heavy tone.

Zhang He also understood the meaning of Mi Yang's words.

In Mi Yang's view, no matter what countermeasures Cao Rui and Lu Xun took, he had a way to ensure that the interests of the Han Dynasty would not be harmed.

But among those methods, rescuing Shi Bao was undoubtedly put last.

If everything developed according to the worst case scenario, perhaps Mi Yang would still lead his troops to support Shi Bao without hesitation in the end, but the result would be in vain.

But this also fulfilled Mi Yang's integrity.

As for Shi Bao's life and death.
This is also the reason why Mi Yang's tone is heavy.

But Mi Yang didn't think he had done anything wrong.

He was first the Grand Marshal of the Han Dynasty, and then the regent minister entrusted by Liu Bei before his death. The relationship between him and Shi Bao as a monarch and his subject came after these two events.

Mi Yang was willing to sacrifice one person's life and death to gain as much benefit as possible for the country, and he had done it himself in the past.

From the conversation with Shi Bao that night, we can know that Shi Bao was also willing.

"Shi Zhongrong, a man of unparalleled talent" has never been a false compliment.

Mi Yang's choice made Zhang He feel a sense of déjà vu in Mi Yang.

At this moment Zhang He vaguely understood why Liu Bei had no shortage of wise counselors and generals, but only after he met Fa Zheng did he truly soar to fame.

The reason is that Fa Ruo is just like Mi Yang. He believes in friendship but is never pedantic about it.

If you should do something, do it. Why hesitate about other things?
This style is very similar to that of Emperor Wu of that time.

Thinking of this, Zhang He's gaze towards Mi Yang took on some other colors.

But Zhang He hid some of his thoughts very well. He now focused on one thing:
"When does Grand Marshal think Lu Xun will make his move?
What should our army do next? "

Zhang He's question left Mi Yang without an accurate answer.

“Based on the time calculation, even if Cao Rui sent an envoy immediately after learning the news of the loss of Bowang, the envoy may not have arrived in Jianye yet.

We don't need to worry. When the news reaches Sun Quan, he should be the one who is anxious."

Although Mi Yang could not judge when Lu Xun would make his move, based on his understanding of Sun Quan, he knew that it would be difficult for Sun Quan to give up this opportunity.

Historically, Sun Quan had a morbid possessiveness towards Jingzhou.
“As for how our army should act next.

Hasn’t Cao Xiu been in Wancheng all this time?

I don't think I've ever met him before, so I'll go meet him this time."

Mi Yang's words sounded as relaxed as if he was going to meet an old friend.

But when his words fell into Zhang He's ears, he felt a chill down his spine.

Da Sima, don’t you know that you have a reputation in the world as a “deer in the trough”?
That sounds terrible.

Wancheng is not far from Bowang.

Just as Xiahou Shang inferred, perhaps because the Han army blocked the road at the beginning, Cao Xiu was unable to immediately detect the abnormality from the rear.

But as time goes by, even a pig can react.

Obviously, Cao Xiu is not a pig.

When the grain and fodder that should have been delivered in the next few days did not arrive on time, Cao Xiu became suspicious.

Once he became suspicious, Cao Xiu naturally sent people to investigate.

It would have been better if he hadn't investigated. Once he did, Cao Xiu was almost so angry that he fell ill.

Cao Xiu clearly remembered that he left three thousand elite soldiers in Bowang.

With these three thousand elite soldiers, even if the Han army was able to rush into Bowang City at the beginning, Cao Shuang was not completely powerless to fight back.

But when Cao Shuang saw that the situation was unfavorable, he simply abandoned the city and fled?
After learning the news of the fall of Bowang, Cao Xiu really wanted to slap himself - why did he fall for Cao Shuang, that idiot.

But what made Cao Xiu even more worried was what happened as the news of the fall of Bowang spread in Wancheng.

As expected, the soldiers and civilians in Wancheng fell into panic upon learning the news of the fall of Bowang.

The army was on a long expedition, but its retreat was cut off by the enemy. Who wouldn't be terrified?

Fortunately, Cao Xiu had a capable general named Wang Ji under his command.

When Wang Ji learned that the morale of the troops in the city was shaken, he had no time to report to Cao Xiu. He immediately rushed to the military camp as a law enforcement officer and suppressed the riot in the camp with thundering means.

Wang Ji's decisive action prevented the tens of thousands of troops in Wancheng from a civil strife.

Later, after hearing the news, Cao Xiu immediately rushed to the military camp.

Cao Xiu still had a lot of prestige in the Wei army.

His appearance stabilized the morale of the Wei army to a great extent.

Seeing that his presence was effective, Cao Xiu went to the military camp every day and ate and drank with the soldiers.

Every time he went to the military camp, Cao Xiu tried his best to appear calm and composed.

But when Cao Xiu returned home, the color on his face disappeared.

Worry and solemnity were the expressions that often appeared on Cao Xiu's face when he was in the mansion.

As time went by, Cao Xiu's emotions became more and more serious every day.

Because in the past few days, even though Cao Xiu had sent people to investigate in every possible way, he had not received any new progress from the Han army.

Bowang has been captured, and there are tens of thousands of Han troops in Yiyang County. In this situation, will Mi Yang choose not to further expand the results of the victory?

Even if you kill Cao Xiu, he won’t believe it.

Perhaps some generals in the city thought that Mi Yang’s next target would be Xuchang, but Cao Xiu rejected such an idea.

Cao Xiu thought he had deduced that Mi Yang's next target must be Wancheng.

As long as tens of thousands of Wei troops were still in Wancheng, Mi Yang would not leave him as a hidden danger and instead attack Xuchang.

But since Mi Yang’s next target is Wancheng, why does he keep sitting there?

Cao Xiu felt that Wancheng’s current situation was like the calm before a storm.

apprehensive.

Just as Cao Xiu was racking his brains and Mi Yang was planning some conspiracy, an urgent military intelligence was delivered to him.

"Tens of thousands of Han troops are marching towards Wancheng!"

Upon hearing the news, Cao Xiu immediately stood up from his seat.

"Is there anyone in the Han army flying the Tiance general flag?"

Cao Xiu asked what he was most concerned about.

The scout's affirmative answer made Cao Xiu's face even gloomier.

He guessed it right.

Just as Wang Ji and Wang Jun, who were standing by, noticed Cao Xiu's expression and were thinking of saying something to comfort him, Cao Xiu suddenly burst into laughter.

"Well done! Well done!"

Cao Xiu's unusual laughter caused the two kings to almost think that their Grand Marshal had gone a little crazy.

It's such a late hour, and you can still laugh.

But Cao Xiu's sudden laughter was not without reason.

After laughing, Cao Xiu turned to the two kings and said:
“I thought before that the Mi bandits were delaying the attack on Wancheng because they had other schemes and tricks.

But what he didn't expect was that the bandit Mi would eventually run out of tricks. Faced with the sturdy Wancheng, he had no choice but to attack by force.

However, considering the solidity of Wancheng, the tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the city, and the food and grass that can be used for a year, I am not worried at all. "

Cao Xiu knew that he could not compare with Mi Yang in terms of brilliant strategies, and there was nothing wrong with admitting that.

What Cao Xiu had always been wary of was Mi Yang's brilliant plans.

But the Han army's approaching force meant that Mi Yang was at his wit's end. If it came to a real siege, Cao Xiu would not be afraid of Mi Yang.

Cao Xiu's explanation brought smiles to Wang Ji and Wang Jun's faces.

It seems that the Grand Marshal still has courage, so this battle can still be fought.

Then Cao Xiu instructed Wang Ji and Wang Jun:

"You two should quickly follow my previous arrangements and order the soldiers in the city to prepare for defense."

After receiving Cao Xiu's order, Wang Ji and Wang Jun immediately took the order and left.

Tens of thousands of Han troops marched to the plain several miles away from Wancheng and set up camp.

When tens of thousands of Han troops set up camp, Ding Feng, who was responsible for guarding the safety of the entire army, sighed deeply.

“I have fought against several “meat troughs” under the command of the Grand Marshal.

But this is the first time I have seen someone as timid as Cao Xiu.

The enemy has just arrived and set up camp. They have not yet established a firm foothold. We should lead our troops to attack them. Has Cao Xiu never read military books?"

After obtaining the task from Mi Yang to protect the entire army's camp, Ding Feng was happy for a long time.

Ding Feng had heard of Cao Xiu's reputation:

"At the age of 20, he was determined to be a hero. He bowed to the famous teacher and spoke eloquently. He shouted at the three armies and wielded his halberd. He kicked at the blades and caught the flying arrows with his hands."

This is the praise for Cao Xiu from famous scholars in Cao Wei.

Ding Feng originally thought that Cao Xiu must be a very courageous opponent to receive such praise.

But what happens in the end?
At least lead the army to charge forward, just to show your appreciation!

Finally, Ding Feng, cursing, led the ambush troops out of the dense forest and turned back to the camp to report.

When Ding Feng returned to the camp, the look of contempt on his face had not yet disappeared.

After seeing Ding Feng's expression, Mi Yang knew what Ding Feng was thinking.

After knowing this, Mi Yang couldn't help but smile.

But then Mi Yang asked Ding Feng one thing:

“Quickly order people to cut down the surrounding trees and build siege weapons.

Remember, the louder the better."

After giving Ding Feng his instructions, Mi Yang turned to Jiang Ji and said:
"Tell Governor Deng to continuously transport large quantities of food and fodder to the front line."

Finally, Mi Yang said to Ding Feng and Jiang Ji at the same time:
"I want everyone in Jingzhou to know how determined I am to take over Wancheng!"

After receiving Mi Yang's order, Ding Feng and Jiang Ji realized the importance of the matter, so they bowed to Mi Yang and promised:

"I obey!"

Listening to the two people's voices, Mi Yang thought in his heart:

"Sun Shiwan, I've made it this far, hurry up and move."

(End of this chapter)