Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Guanqiu Jian rode his horse forward, and when he was still three feet away from Cao Rui's procession, he dismounted and walked forward to greet them.

"Your Majesty, I, Guanqiu Jian, pay my respects to you." Guanqiu Jian bowed.

Cao Rui looked at Guanqiu Jian and said with a smile: "Zhong Gong is a cavalry general. Come on board and accompany me to review the troops!"

"As you wish." Guanqiu Jian replied in a deep voice.

The cabinet minister and former general Man Chong, along with the Privy Councilor Liu Ye, the Privy Councilor Wang Guan, the Left Yulin General Wen Qin, the Xiaowei General Wang Ling, the Central Guard General Huan Fan, the Fengyi General Bei Yan and others, followed behind the emperor's horse. Cao Shuang, the archer, was in the cavalry formation behind him, responsible for commanding the guards.

At the front of the team were the emperor and Guanqiu Jian.

Cao Rui rode a white horse and Guanqiu Jian rode a brown horse. The two were not far apart from each other, so by slightly turning sideways, one could hear what they were saying clearly.

Cao Rui asked, "Last night, Liu Shumi told Zhong Gong everything, right?"

"Liu Youjian has conveyed the order to me." Guanqiu Jian replied in a deep voice: "Today is the eighth day of the tenth month. According to your majesty's order, I should arrive in Fancheng on the evening of the thirteenth day of the tenth month."

Cao Rui nodded and said, "I originally wanted to let Wen Zhongruo lead the troops. The Yulin Left Army is the most suitable for this. But he just returned from the north and has not had time to rest. I am afraid that his soldiers have no intention of fighting, so I can only send Zhonggong."

Guanqiu Jian said, "I know the pros and cons of this, but I don't know if Your Majesty can give me any instructions on military strategy."

"Yes, there are some." Cao Rui replied: "Whether it is Fancheng or Yukou, they are both places near water. Fancheng faces the water on one side, and Yukouwu faces the water on two sides. Such places are not the strong points of cavalry."

"I know that Sun Quan has many soldiers in Xiangfan. Xu Yuanzhi is stationed there for the time being because he is outnumbered and worried about a possible defeat, so he dares not attack. With Zhonggong's cavalry as a support, he will not be overwhelmed by Wu's infantry if he is defeated, and he can be more daring in his use of troops."

Guanqiu Jian responded in a deep voice: "I understand your majesty's intention. If General Xu orders me to attack, what should I say?"

Cao Rui said, "That place is not a place where cavalry can be of great use. Although Xu Yuanzhi can supervise you in the battle, he will not order you to attack by force. If you encounter an emergency, you can tell him my instructions."

"I obey your order." Guanqiu Jian paused, but then gave instructions: "The Zhongling Army Camp has long been your Majesty's personal guard. Now that I am leaving for Fancheng, who should lead the palace guards?"

Cao Rui pulled the reins of his horse, turned his horse and pointed: "Zhong Gong is gone, but the ministers, the privy council, and the generals are still here, so Zhong Gong doesn't need to worry. The palace guards are led by the Central Guard Huan Yuanze, and the three lieutenants Cao Shuang, Cao Zhao, and Jiang Wei take turns in charge. There is absolutely no danger."

Guanqiu Jian looked in the direction Cao Rui pointed, nodded and said, "I understand. Your Majesty, please take care."

Cao Rui laughed and said, "Oh, Zhong Gong, I have something else to tell you. The three thousand Xiongnu are at your disposal. You should not let them fight any tough battles, but you should also make them bleed when necessary, so as to sharpen their skills."

"Yes, I understand." said Guanqiu Jian.

The two men stopped where they were, and a few feet behind them, Man Chong, Liu Ye and others gradually caught up.

Everyone had seen the close relationship between the emperor and the commander of the Central Army, Guanqiu Jian, but no one was jealous. After all, the experience of accompanying the emperor in the palace was rare, and Guanqiu Jian's treatment was almost unique in the Wei Dynasty.

Wei Zhen was already a Shangshu, a higher position than the others. Zheng Cheng, Gao Tanglong and other scholars were also important, but He Zeng, Bi Gui, Li Feng and Ji Mao, who were also ministers of the palace, did not increase their positions much despite receiving many favors. Among them, Bi Gui was even demoted because of the Fuhua case.

After everyone gathered together, Guanqiu Jian rode his horse in front and ordered the soldiers to beat drums and blow horns to boost morale in preparation for the inspection.

Cao Rui and his ministers rode on horseback behind, reviewing them one by one from west to east.

The 5,000 cavalrymen in the Zhongling Army Camp were divided into ten formations, with 500 men in each formation. The formation was strict and orderly, which was something that was expected.

When they arrived in front of the Huns' formation, the formation was slightly wider and changed to 600 people per formation, which was in accordance with the regulations of the Huns' previous military deployment.

After the Southern Xiongnu surrendered to Cao Cao, they were divided into five tribes under the order of Cao Cao's government. The left tribe lived in Taiyuan Zishi, the right tribe lived in Qi, the southern tribe lived in Puzi, the northern tribe lived in Xinxing, and the central tribe lived in Daling.

At the beginning of the year, the Huns responded to the imperial court's call and sent out 3,000 people, with each tribe sending 600 soldiers, led by Liu Bao, the commander of the left tribe.

As for the remaining Huns in Taiyuan County, they were led by the right commander Qu Bei.

Liu Bao led his army back to the court from the south, perhaps because he was afraid of Ke Bineng, or because he was truly loyal to Wei, or it was also possible that Liu Bao had the intention of competing with Qu Bei for the throne.

However, even if Liu Bao had his own ideas, he had to follow the orders and assignments of the Great Wei and dared not disobey them in the slightest.

Under Guanqiu Jian's command, the five Xiongnu leaders set out from the formation, galloped to Cao Rui's horse, then dismounted and knelt down.

"Gentlemen, please stand up." Cao Rui raised his hand slightly. "Due to your merits in the previous expedition against Liaodong, you are all marquises of the Great Wei. You can just bow and salute me. You don't have to kneel every time."

"Yes, sir." The five of them stood up one after another.

Cao Rui glanced around and then ordered: "Privy Councilor Liu Youjian also told you yesterday that you are generals in the army. Whether I am here or not, you must abide by military discipline and laws, and obey military orders as if they were mine."

"Of course, if you encounter any injustice, you can report it to me."

At this point, Cao Rui laughed and pointed at Liu Bao: "I remember you are literate, you can write to me at any time."

Liu Bao bowed and replied: "Although I am a Hu man, my heart is no different from that of an ordinary person. I am loyal to Your Majesty and to my duties. I don't care about that!"

Cao Rui nodded slightly: "If that's the case, then you must know the principle of 'listen to what they say and watch what they do'. I won't say more, just wait and see how you perform."

Liu Bao responded loudly: "As ordered! Your Majesty, please rest assured!" Cao Rui smiled slightly when he heard this, and the ministers behind him also nodded in response. However, their thoughts may be different.

……

October 10th, Jingzhou, Xiangyang.

The temperature in Jingxiang had already turned cold in October. Although it was not extremely cold, it was cold enough for the Wu soldiers to wear their thickest clothes under their armor.

The leaves of the trees on both sides of the Han River are falling. At the turn of autumn and winter, accompanied by the unbridled wind blowing across the river, it seems that the whole world has become bleak.

However, for the Wu navy patrolling east and west on the Han River, except for the time when they first arrived in Xiangfan and attacked the Wei navy still in the naval camp on the river bank, the rest of the time was relaxing and enjoyable.

Just after dawn, a warship of the Wu army was patrolling twenty miles south of Yuliangzhou. The leading general of a hundred men was looking at the bow when he suddenly noticed a ship coming from the south. The general immediately ordered his men to be on alert, and when the ship got closer, he ordered his soldiers to relax.

Among all the naval forces in the world, the State of Wu had the most powerful one.

The Shu army also had ships, but most of them were destroyed in the Battle of Yiling. After Zhuge Liang came to power, due to the natural location of Shu in the upper reaches, in order to avoid provoking the ally Wu, he never ordered the construction of warships.

The ships of the Wei army were even simpler than those of the Wu army.

When Cao Xiu led his troops to attack Yangzhou, he often took oil boats to cross the river because of their lightness. These oil boats were made of cowhide, similar to the rafts of later times. It was a helpless move when he could not seize the river mouth. Previously, Cao Pi ordered the construction of the tower ship, and during the trial of the ship, a Shangshu Pushe was killed.

In short, the shape of the Wu army's warships is different from those of the Wei and Shu countries. Just a rough look at the appearance is enough to distinguish between the enemy and us.

The ships coming from the south had a smooth journey. Under the guidance of the general of a hundred men, they passed the defense zone and headed straight north until they stopped at the newly built pier south of Yuliangzhou. Then they rushed to the outskirts of Sun Quan's tent carrying urgent news.

It was early morning and Sun Quan had just woken up. After carefully reading the document sent by the messenger, he became so angry that he knocked over the bowl of porridge beside him to the ground.

Sun Quan held the smooth silk in his right hand, looked at the door with anger in his eyes, and shouted:
"Come here, call all the generals to come to my tent for a quick discussion! Go now!"

"Yes, sir." The guards outside the tent immediately led the troops, and in less than an incense stick of time, Shi Yi, Hu Zong, Quan Cong, Bu Zhi, Pan Jun and other generals came into the tent one after another.

Zhuge Jin was still stationed in the Wu army camp outside Xiangyang City, while Sun Huan was guarding in Yukouwu in the north, so they were unable to come.

As soon as everyone entered the tent, they saw Sun Quan's livid face and a look of rage, as if he was ready to kill someone at any time. In silence, they all speculated what had happened.

Sun Quan said without further ado, "My lords, the Wei army has moved south from Hefei and is approaching Ruxuwu. They are trying to force me to withdraw from Xiangfan."

"Do you have any advice for me?"

Shi Yi was the Minister of State of Wu and the person in charge of the military affairs of this expedition. Upon hearing this, he bowed his hands with a serious face and asked:
"Your Majesty, when was this military report sent out? I wonder how many troops did Wei send this time?"

Sun Quan had a gloomy face, and he held out the silk in his hand, and said in a low voice, "It was sent in the evening of October 1st."

"From Ruxu to here is 2,400 miles, and we can travel 300 miles a day, which is quite reasonable." Shi Yi said as he took the document, read it word by word, then folded it up and held it in his hand.

Hu Zong, who was standing beside him, wanted to raise his hand to take the document, but Shi Yi looked straight at Sun Quan as if he didn't see it:

"Your Majesty, I think a military report alone is not enough to explain anything. How about waiting for two more days for follow-up news to arrive before making any plans?"

Sun Quan looked up and saw that the other ministers in the tent also looked anxious, so he said:
"It's okay, there's no need to hide it. Ziyu, tell everyone about this."

"As you command." Shi Yi straightened up, turned around and looked at everyone, and said slowly:
"This document was sent by Luo Tong, the governor of Ruxu."

"On the afternoon of September 30, 500 Wei cavalrymen came from the direction of Hefei and captured the outpost of the Great Wu located in Dongxing, north of Ruxu."

"On the morning of October 1, the vanguard of the Wei cavalry arrived at Ruxu Fort. Luo Tong's navy ships saw most of the Wei infantry at the mouth of Chaohu Lake. The force was at least 5,000 and was heading towards Ruxu. Therefore, Luo Tong sent an envoy to the Supreme Emperor and Jianye to ask for help."

Quan Cong immediately said, "Your Majesty, I think this is a tactic of the Wei army to mobilize troops, under the pretext of attacking Ruxu, to make Your Majesty withdraw from Xiangfan. If Your Majesty leads the army to withdraw, and the Wei army withdraws north from Ruxu to Hefei and Fancheng, then the army's hard work for more than a month will be in vain!"

"I think that the royal army should continue to hold out against the Wei army in Xiangfan and not give up halfway!"

As Sun Quan listened to Quan Cong's words, the frown on his face relaxed a little, but he was still angry overall.

Among all the generals, Quan Cong had the strongest fighting spirit and the clearest stance.

After Quan Cong spoke, there was a pause before Hu Zongcai walked to the center, bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, I agree with General Quan's words."

"Ruxu is not an isolated city. Luo Gongxu is calm and steady. He will not attack blindly. Five thousand soldiers are enough to hold Ruxu fortress without any worries. Moreover, Ruxu is very close to Jianye. Boats on the Yangtze River can leave in the morning and arrive in the evening. The army of Jianye can reach Ruxu in three days."

"If we calculate based on the time when the letter was sent on October 1st," Hu Zong paused for two moments, "at the latest October 5th, which is four days ago, the army of Yangzhou Governor Lu Gong will arrive at Ruxu."

"Lü Gong's reinforcements have arrived, and with the advantages of the navy on the river and Ruxu Fort, I really don't know how Ruxu Fort could have failed. This must be a plan by the Wei court to lure the royal army back. A journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step. I hope Your Majesty will not be disturbed by this."

After hearing what Shi Yi, Quan Cong and Hu Zong said, Sun Quan was still unable to make a decision and sat in the middle of the tent in silence.

The remaining two, Pan Jun and Bu Zhi, looked at each other but did not say anything. The three people who had said what needed to be said had already said it. The final conclusion would depend on the Supreme's own thoughts. (End of this chapter)