Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

An extremely exaggerated building ship stood in the water of Ruxu, painted with various brocade and lacquer, making the already huge building ship even more ferocious. On the east and west sides were Wu Jun forts, and to the south was Ruxu Zhongzhou.

This was the boat of He Qi, the former general of the State of Wu. After He Qi's death, the ship was handed over to the new governor of Yangzhou, Lu Dai, and was then sent to Ruxu.

General Zhang Cheng of the Fenwei Army stood at the bow, and Lieutenant Taishi Xiang stood beside him. The East and West Forts not far away were commanded by Generals Yan Gui and Zhou Shao respectively.

A small boat approached, and a man who looked like a general walked onto the boat and came to Zhang Cheng's side. This man was Zhu Cai.

After approaching, Zhu Cai bowed and said, "General Zhang, the water is shallow in autumn and winter, and the tower ship cannot go deep into the Ruxu River. I sent people from the flank to bypass the Wei army camp and go north to investigate, and I have reported back now."

Zhang Cheng stopped looking and turned to look at Zhu Cai: "What did the scouts find out?"

Zhu Cai looked a little depressed: "Of the thirty scouts, twenty-six died, and only four returned."

"The scouts who came back reported that behind the Wei army camp, there seemed to be a large number of civilians heading south from Chaohu Lake. There seemed to be tens of thousands of people. There were countless small boats on the Ruxu River carrying food, wood, bricks and stones."

Zhang Cheng sighed and shook his head slightly. "North of the two docks in Ruxu, the Wei army has built camps, with more than 30,000 soldiers. We don't have enough troops, so we can only sit in the city and watch them build camps."

"I have been thinking about it for several days, but I still don't understand why the Wei army is so close, and why they only built camps instead of attacking?"

Taishi Xiang said, "General Zhu may not know that at noon today, Lu Gong's military order arrived at Wuhu on the south bank, telling us not to act rashly but to hold our ground and wait for help."

Zhu Cai smiled bitterly, "Holding on and waiting for help is not the right way to do it! The Wei army is only building camps but not attacking. They have more troops than us, whether in the east or west. Besides, the Wei army camp is just four miles north of Ruxuwu, and there is a floating bridge on the river connecting the east and the west. How can they attack the city like this?"

Zhang Cheng sighed again and said, "From this situation, it seems that the Wei army wants to fight us for a long time. It is obvious that they want to attract troops so that Your Majesty can withdraw his troops in Xiangfan."

After saying that, Zhang Cheng clenched his right fist and angrily hit the railing on the boat: "And the most critical thing is that we can't do anything about it!"

Zhu Cai and Taishi Xiang also sighed.

This is how marching and fighting is done, and it is not dependent on the will of a few generals.

At Ruxu, the Wei army in the north had more troops and blocked the Wu army in Ruxu and Zhongzhou. This was an indisputable fact. Even if all 15,000 people attacked Chongying, and the 10,000 people in Lu Dai on the south bank were also counted, it would not be enough.

While Zhang Cheng, Zhu Cai, Taishi Xiang and others were feeling helpless, Chen Qun in the north was at ease and even felt a little relaxed.

For Chen Qun, leading 40,000 soldiers south to this place, he only needed to set up camp and guard it, and he would be able to accomplish his mission. This kind of battle could be done by anyone, and it was simply a credit that was right at his fingertips.

The ones who were really tired were the soldiers in the army, the county officials from the Yangzhou governor Jiang Ji on down, and the countless civilians who were repairing the city.

This is open and aboveboard.

While Zhang Cheng and others were looking north, Chen Qun also led Feng Ping, Zhang Hu, Le Chen and others to climb up the newly built wooden watchtower behind the low wall of the camp. The four of them stood on it, just filling up the top of the watchtower.

Zhang Hu bowed and said, "Lord Chen, I have seen Wu's ships traveling on the river, but they have never dared to advance north. I think they are intimidated by the might of the Wei army."

Le Chen was not good at speaking, so he just echoed, "I second the motion."

Chen Qun narrowed his eyes and looked south, but did not respond immediately. After a while, he said softly:
"In the second year of Huangchu, General Cao Zhen led his army to defeat the Hu people who were rebellious in Hexi. At that time, the former emperor said in Luozhong that this was 'planning in the tent and winning a battle thousands of miles away'."

"Today, I personally came to Ruxu and realized that this 'decision of victory thousands of miles away' is not limited to the one-way victory in battle. Once the words are spoken, the plan is complete, and the implementation of the plan determines the victory. Your Majesty and the central government's wisdom is truly admirable."

Feng Ping, who was standing nearby, agreed with a smile, "Even if we have to plan and direct the troops, Mr. Chen will still be the one to do it himself. The credit should naturally go to Mr. Chen."

Chen Qun said: "I am already the Minister of the Wei Dynasty, the Governor of Yangzhou, and the Marquis of a county. Do I still need to ask for any merit?"

"If we talk about merit, the real merit should go to your Majesty who won the battle in Waiwan City in the past. He gathered troops and grain in Yangzhou for several years, selected talented people to accumulate wealth, and chose such a critical moment. The people of Yangzhou in Wu State had no time to respond, and Sun Quan in Xiangfan had no time to respond. By the time he came to his senses, the city had already begun to be built!"

Feng Ping quickly responded, "Mr. Chen is right. Your Majesty is a wise and capable ruler. It is only a matter of time before you conquer Wu and destroy Shu."

Zhang Hu and Le Chen also responded immediately. Chen Qun didn't care, shook his head slightly, and asked Feng Ping again: "Boying, Jia Liangdao hasn't sent a messenger yet?"

Feng Ping calculated in his mind for a few moments and responded, "Mr. Chen, the messenger should have arrived in Wancheng on the fourth day of October. If Jia Zhennan sent someone to report back, he should have arrived in Hefei yesterday."

Chen Qun hummed: "So we can go to Ruxu the day after tomorrow?"

"That's right." Feng Ping nodded.

Chen Qun said calmly, "I know. The person sent by Governor Jiang to supervise the repair of the city is Sima Ziyuan, the warehouse officer, right?"

Feng Ping said: "Mr. Chen is right, it is this man, the eldest son of Sikong Sima Gong."

Chen Qun glanced at Feng Ping and said with a smile, "I have known Zhongda for decades, and his son doesn't need Bo Ying to introduce him to me. Send someone to call him over, I have something to tell him."

Feng Ping nodded: "As you command, I will go later."

……

Although Wei had gained some time at Ruxu, and Chen Qun's 40,000 soldiers and the tens of thousands of civilians who followed caught the Wu army stationed at Ruxu off guard, things did not go so smoothly everywhere.

On the evening of October 9, Wang Ping's troops, the vanguard of the Shu army, advanced rapidly and arrived at the city of Xiabian.

There were only 500 cavalrymen stationed in the city. Seeing the powerful Shu army, they dared not to stop them. While the Shu army had not yet surrounded them, they fled eastward towards Hechi at night.

Wang Ping's troops also easily occupied Xiabian City and reported the matter to Zhuge Liang, who was 20 miles to the west.

Two years ago, Zhuge Liang ordered Wei Yan to abandon Xiabian City and withdraw his troops to the Chiting area. During these two years, Wei Yan often resented this matter.

However, under Fei Yi's persuasion, Wei Yan was ordered to head west to Wudu, and the task of attacking Xiabian was handed over to Wang Ping. Wei Yan had heard Zhuge Liang praise him in public before, and he was quite pleased. If Wei Yan knew that Wang Ping had captured Xiabian so easily, he would have been so angry.

There is only 80 li between Xiabian and Hechi. After the withdrawn cavalry arrived at Hechi in the early morning, Cao Zhen was not in a hurry. He ordered his subordinates to prepare for battle and prepare to march west tomorrow, October 11.

At this moment, in the dilapidated government office in Hechi City, Cao Zhen and his officials were sitting in the hall, discussing the military affairs of the place.

Du Xi said slowly, "The Shu army occupied Xiabian, so they must have come from the direction of Wujie. Xiabian is just an empty city, so they occupied it, so there is no need to worry too much."

"When we march out tomorrow, the first thing we should do is to find out the scale of the Shu army's advance and the general leading it. Then we should inform Generals Zhang Zhengxi and Guo Zhengshu of this matter. Wujie was originally under the command of Lu Huqiang, so he should also know about this."

Cao Zhen shook his head slightly: "Do we need to investigate the leading general? I can tell you that the commander-in-chief must be Zhuge Liang himself. As for the generals, they are nothing more than Wei Yan, Wu Yi, Wang Ping and a few others."

"Last year, we attacked Dazhong and Yangpingguan. We have already figured out the situation. Why do we need to mention it again? Without Hanzhong, Shu Kingdom will only have half of Yizhou. Where can we find other generals to use?"

"The general is right." Du Xi replied.

After communicating with Wei Zhen in Chencang, Cao Zhen led 5,000 soldiers from his own army and 10,000 cavalrymen of the Yulin Right Army led by Cheng Xi, a total of 15,000 troops, and marched south along the Chencang Road to Hechi.

Hechi is closer to the old water route and is more convenient for transporting food and supplies. For Cao Zhen, it is a better choice than Xiabian.

Food and grass are already scarce in Guanzhong this year. Stationing in Hechi can save some food and grass expenses on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can judge the opportunity of war at any time.

If the enemy is in Wujie and Qishan, we can move westward quickly. If the enemy is in Yangpingguan and Wuxingguan, we can turn south along Chencang Road without delay.

But Cheng Xi seemed a little worried. He cupped his hands and said, "General, I have something to worry about."

"Shen Bo, please feel free to speak." Cao Zhen said. (End of this chapter)