Three Kingdoms: I, Ma Su, Only Seek Death

"So Longyou still can't be saved?"

Cao Rui looked at the battle report sent by Cao Zhen and asked expressionlessly.

"Yes, Your Majesty, and Zhang He, who was aiding Long, was also wiped out in Jieting." Cao Zhen smiled bitterly, lowered his head and carefully reported the report.

"Now the entire Longyou has surrendered to Shu, and the Long Road has been completely cut off by the Shu army."

The past two months have been the most troublesome for him since he took the throne. The battle reports sent every day do not contain any good news. It seems that the Shu army is attacking from all sides, Longyou, Xincheng, Baoxie Road... there is news about the Shu army everywhere.

The only good news is that Meng Da in Xincheng was killed by Sima Yi before he raised his troops. This is the only good news in two months.

In the end, Cao Rui gritted his teeth and announced that the imperial commander would go on a personal expedition, and while Cao Zhen was going south to block the Shu army in Bao Xiedao, he sent Zhang He to rescue Longyou. The Wei army that was briefly guarding the Central Plains was mobilized nearly 100,000 people in one go, waiting for a decisive battle with the Shu army.

As a result, before he could arrange everything, Bao Xiedao's Shu army withdrew, and Zhang He's army who went to rescue Longxi was wiped out...

"Well, it's not your fault, it's because the Shu people are too cunning." Cao Rui held back his "mmp" sentence for a long time, but in the end he didn't curse him because he was a lonely and important minister.

"Now I want to know, how many troops do I need to mobilize to recapture Longyou? Can it be done by staying close to the Guanzhong Army?"

The key is whether the army in Guanzhong alone can take back Longyou. You must know that there are hundreds of thousands of people in the five counties of Longyou. Even if Cao Wei, who has a great family and a great business, is lost, he will feel sad.

And once Longyou is occupied by the Shu army, the entire Guanzhong and Liangzhou will be under the attack of the Shu army for a long time. The Shu army will not need to cross mountains and rivers to transport food from Hanzhong to the front line, and the logistical pressure will be greatly reduced.

So Cao Rui was very concerned about what he should do to regain Longyou as soon as possible.

Cao Rui was asking this question about Cao Zhen, not Xia Houmao. After all, he also knew how useless the boys in this family were.

"Uh..." Cao Zhen was stunned by this question and didn't know how to reply for a while.

He was worried that telling the truth would irritate His Majesty. After all, the situation in Guanzhong was very difficult.

"Just tell the truth. I won't be angry because of this matter." Cao Rui saw Cao Zhen's hesitation and said calmly.

Seeing Cao Rui's eyes, Cao Zhen sighed bitterly in his heart and said with difficulty.

"Your Majesty...the soldiers in Guanzhong are in poor discipline. Many local military leaders are standing in disobedience and are not useful at all. Among the armies in the northwest, only the Yongzhou Army under Guo Huai's charge can still fight."

"But the Yongzhou army under Guo Huai's command is only 20,000, which is not enough to defend the three auxiliaries in Guanzhong, and it is difficult to continue the attack."

Of course, he still has people who can fight, such as Zhang He's subordinates. But since they were all buried in the street pavilion, Cao Zhen could ignore him.

You're a loser, you can't even defeat a civilian leader, so what's the use of you!

Cao Zhen's answer made Cao Rui look a little ugly, and it was obvious that Cao Rui was really angry. He took several breaths and calmed down before speaking.

"Then if we mobilize the state army and rush south for reinforcements, can we recapture Longyou?"

"It's difficult." Cao Zhen shook his head and replied with a wry smile.

"Due to previous neglect of defense in the northwest, Longyou has no garrison at all. However, Longyou and Yongzhou share a natural barrier in Longshan, and there is no other offensive route except Longdao."

"The opportunity to enter Longyou is that the Shu army has not yet completed cutting off Longyou and can break through the gap.

"However, the right general Zhang He who was responsible for this task did not complete the task, and instead the entire army was annihilated. Now that the entire Longyou territory has surrendered to Shu, Zhuge Liang has built the Longdao defense line like an iron barrel."

"According to someone's estimate, to recapture Longyou, at least 150,000 soldiers and horses are needed. Only by taking turns can we hope to recapture Longyou."

After listening to Cao Zhen's analysis, Cao Rui's face was gloomy and terrifying, and the anger in his eyes was about to come out.

"One hundred and fifty thousand soldiers and horses? If Gu Neng could use these troops, how could the Shu people snatch Longyou away?

"One Longyou requires hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses. So does it require an entire country to conquer the Shu Han?"

Cao Wei's army only had 400,000 soldiers and horses, which still required garrisoning Cao Wei's vast border.

Huainan defended Dongwu, Liaodong defended Gongsun Du, and the north defended Wu Heng, the Xiongnu. Moreover, sufficient troops also need to be left to guard the Hebei Central Plains, Cao Wei's core interest area.

The troops in these places must not be transferred away for a long time, otherwise Cao Wei's regime will be unstable. At this stage, the number of troops Cao Rui can use to deal with the Shu Han is less than 100,000.

Facing Cao Rui's anger, Cao Zhen could only lower his head and pretend to be quail, not daring to say a word. After all, he is not a god, and he cannot conjure soldiers and horses out of thin air to defeat the Shu army.

Cao Rui was angry for a long time, and finally took a long breath and sat at the table, still feeling uneasy. It suddenly occurred to him that if Zhang He had not wiped out his entire army, he would not be so passive now, and his blood pressure suddenly rose again.

"Zhang He, this waste, not only failed to successfully aid Long, but also died with tens of thousands of Cao Wei soldiers! What's the use of raising such an incompetent waste!"

After angrily complaining about Zhang He's incompetence, Cao Rui took a long breath and calmed down.

It's useless to be angry now, we must find a way to stabilize the territory.

Looking at the Shu army's posture, it is estimated that wars in the northwest will become more frequent in the future. Since Longyou cannot be recaptured in a short period of time, we can only find ways to consolidate war preparations in the northwest.

"Moved Sima Yi to be the governor of Yongzhou and Liangzhou, and supervised the military affairs of Yongzhou and Liangzhou."

"Guo Huai was appointed as the general of Zhenxi and continued to be responsible for supervising Yongzhou."

"General Cao Zhen holds integrity, supervises the military affairs in Guanzhong, and prepares for the movements of the Shu army."

"As for Xia Houmao, please go back to Luoyang and don't cause trouble in the northwest."

"In the next ten years or so, it is estimated that wars in the northwest will become more frequent. Please cheer up." Cao Rui ordered one after another, and successively transferred Sima Yi and others to important positions in the northwest. After the arrangements were made, Cao Rui breathed a sigh of relief and immediately gave the order.

"Give me the order, prepare your luggage, and drive back to Luoyang tomorrow. I'm afraid the cunning Soochow will not miss this good opportunity, and will definitely take the opportunity to attack Hefei."

"Wei!" Cao Zhen immediately lowered his head and replied.

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Cao Rui's guess was correct. After the Shu army annexed Longyou and spread to Soochow, Sun Quan was immediately ready to take action.

At this time, all the soldiers and horses from the Central Plains of Cao Wei were transferred to the west. It was the time when Huainan was empty. If we don't fight now, why should we fight?

After several days of discussions with ministers, Sun Quan, the supreme leader of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, ordered the governor Lu Xun to lead the northern expedition to Hefei. Within a few days, one hundred thousand troops of Soochow crossed the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and marched towards Hefei for the nth time.

All this information was delivered to Zhuge Liang's desk at an extremely fast speed. Zhuge Liang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Cao Wei and Soochow starting to act as he had planned.

"The late emperor has a spirit in heaven, and Longyou has officially returned to the Han Dynasty."