Cao Zhen bid farewell to Emperor Wei and led his army to the expedition. He had 100,000 troops directly under his command, including 20,000 Chinese troops stationed in the capital, 40,000 foreign troops stationed in the east and north, as well as Yan, He and Hebei.

There are 40,000 soldiers in the three prefectures and counties, all of which are elite divisions that are good at fighting. Among them, there are 40,000 cavalry alone. The combat power can be said to be very powerful.

If the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses under Xiahou Ru in Guanzhong and the 30,000 Eastern Route Army led by Sima Yi in Jingzhou are added, the total force of Cao Wei's attack on Ji Han this time is no less than 160,000.

Cao Wei occupies several states in the north. It is rich in money and food, and has prosperous household registrations. It has a standing army of four to five million people in the country, which is more than Ji Han and Dong Wu combined. It has more soldiers and generals than any other in the world.

However, due to its large territory, Cao Wei faced considerable defense pressure. The west and south had to resist the invasion of Han and Wu, and the north and east had to defend against the harassment of barbarian Hu Di. In addition, occasionally they had to suppress the common people in the country.

During the uprising, Cao Wei's standing army of four to five million people was barely enough.

Of course, Cao Wei's recruitment of soldiers has not reached its limit, but now it has mobilized no less than 160,000 mobile troops to expedition to Ji Han. Even though the Cao Wei family has a great cause, the burden is not small. For Cao Rui and his ministers, this attack on Ji Han

Han had already tried his best.

Therefore, in this battle, we can only win, not lose, otherwise Cao Wei's national power will be greatly damaged, and once a big defeat occurs, the west of Tongguan will most likely no longer be owned by Cao Wei.

On the way back to the palace, although Cao Rui was still deeply excited by the majestic military power just now, he suddenly thought that victory in this battle was not guaranteed, and he suddenly became uneasy again. He opened the curtain of the imperial carriage and rode outside.

Sun Zi asked: "Sun Aiqing, do you think we, the Wei Dynasty, can achieve a complete victory in this attack on Shu?"

"Your Majesty, please rest assured that our army is stronger than the Shu thieves. The Great Sima and the Great General are all famous generals who have experienced battles for a long time. Liu Shizhong is one of the most resourceful people in the world. It is because of Wang Shi that he won this battle.

The probability should be above 70%. Even if you can't get full success, you can at least get one or two.

To put it ten thousand steps back, even if the king's army fails to defeat the Shu thieves, with Da Sima and the others there, they will never be defeated. If the situation is unfavorable, as long as they can retreat in full force, the country will still be able to withstand it.

I can afford it," Sun Zi comforted.

Although he had always opposed sending troops to conquer Ji Han before major changes occurred, he only believed that sending troops at this time would be difficult to achieve great results and would only waste national power. He never thought that his side would be defeated by the Han army. After all,

Since Cao Cao launched his army, Cao Cao's army has won more victories than lost, and its reputation as the strongest army in the world has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

After hearing Sun Zi's comforting words, Cao Rui felt reassured and became confident again. He thought that if he could really destroy Ji Han in one battle this time, he would accomplish what Emperor Taizu Wu and Emperor Shi Zuwen had not accomplished.

, his posthumous reputation will be equal to that of the Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, and he will become a great emperor who will be worshiped by future generations. Thinking of this, his heart will surge, and his previous worries will be swept away.

News of the Wei army's large-scale expedition spread to all directions, and the world was shocked. All the enemies of Cao Wei turned their attention to Yongliang and Bashu. The Han army had made great gains in the two northern expeditions before, but after all, they took advantage of Cao Wei's unpreparedness to catch Cao Wei by surprise.

Now that Cao Wei has fully prepared and taken the initiative to attack with his true strength, everyone in the world is paying attention. All forces have sent out spies one after another to get the latest information to see who will win in this battle involving hundreds of thousands of people?

On the eighth day after Cao Rui issued the edict to go out, Yang Qing had already received the news and immediately summoned Guan Xing, Wang Ping, Liu Yin and others to discuss the matter. As early as a month ago, when the haze of war was getting closer and closer, Yang Qing He has already led 10,000 state soldiers to the martial arts front line.

After three o'clock, everyone arrived. After reciting the etiquette, everyone took their seats. Yang Qing said loudly: "Everyone, the puppet emperor Cao Rui has officially issued an order to send out troops. The 100,000 troops led by Cao Zhen are already on their way to Guanzhong. It is expected that more troops will be sent out. You can reach Chang'an in twelve or three days.

The war is coming, and our troops in Yongzhou are on the front line against the enemy. The pressure is not small. I hope that you will abide by your duties, restrain your troops, be vigilant, be prepared for war, and be ready for war at any time."

"I sincerely obey your envoy's orders." Everyone agreed enthusiastically.

Guan Xing closed the intelligence slip and said angrily: "Brother, the Wei thieves are really shameless. Not only did they boast about themselves in the edict, but they also scolded Prime Minister Zhuge so harshly. It is really abominable."

Since the death of Guan Yu, the Guan family has been under the care of Zhuge Liang. Therefore, Guan Xing respects Zhuge Liang very much. Seeing that Cao Wei's imperial edict of defeating Zhuge Liang was extremely slanderous and humiliating, he was extremely angry in his heart.

"Anguo doesn't need to be angry about this. This kind of imperial edict is intended to belittle the enemy. I remember that the imperial edict issued by the emperor before the first Northern Expedition also scolded Cao Wei, so this kind of thing is normal. , don’t worry about it.

But Brother Yu didn't understand the sentence in the edict, "Liu Sheng's brothers are just guarding the empty city."

According to the context, this sentence should be a satire on Your Majesty and the two kings. However, His Majesty's name is Zen, and his abbreviation is Gong Heir. The names of His Majesty's two younger brothers, King Ganling and King Anping, are not promoted. Brother Yu really doesn't know Who is this Liu Shengzhi?

The ability of Cao Wei's school officials shouldn't be so low, right? He can't even find out the situation of our Han royal family?" Yang Qing said.

Guan Xingdao: "I really know the reason. Your Majesty's name before he was granted the title of Crown Prince was called Zuodou, and the small character at that time was Tashengzhi. Your Majesty's current given name was given after he was granted the title of Prince.

The Wei thieves used the previous small characters to address Your Majesty in the edict, presumably because they do not recognize Your Majesty's legitimate throne and regard me, a great man, as a hypocrite."

Yang Qing was surprised when he heard this. He did not expect that the emperor's current name and surname were changed later. His previous name was actually Liu Dou, and his surname was Shengzhi, which was indeed consistent with his given name.

"So that's it. It seems like Thief Wei has worked hard to slander and humiliate me, a big man."

Guan Xing said: "Brother, the Wei thieves are so arrogant. Should we take the initiative to attack during the gap between the Chang'an thieves and the main force of the Wei army to dampen their spirit?"

"No, if the enemy doesn't move, I won't move. Defensive counterattack is the strategy that Prime Minister Zhuge has already decided on. Let's just implement it step by step. Besides, the morale of the Wei army is high now and no flaws have been exposed. It is not a good opportunity to attack at this time." Yang Qing shook his head. .

Guan Xing said: "Then let's just wait and do nothing?"

"Calm down, the total strength of both the enemy and ours is no less than 300,000. There is plenty of fighting to be done in such a big battle, so there is no need to rush into this moment."

Yang Qing paused and then asked Wang Ping: "General Zijun, are the Wudang Feijun familiar with the use of the new crossbow aircraft?"

"Back to the envoy, the sergeants have been practicing for half a month and are all familiar with it. The Yuan Rong No. 2 Repeating Crossbow is indeed a magic weapon. The soldiers all said that two thousand is too few and they are not enough. I hope the imperial court can allocate more batches."

Yang Qing smiled and said: "The output of Yuanrong No. 2 has not yet increased. In the past few months, the craftsmen have been working day and night, and only more than 5,000 pieces have been cast. The prime minister can allocate 2,000 pieces to Wudang Feijun, which is already a blessing to us and others.

It’s biased.”

"Yes, the final general will definitely lead the Wudang flying army to attack the invading enemy and never let down the prime minister's high expectations."

Yang Qing nodded, looked at Qin Kuang and said, "Bo Zheng, write a letter to Wen Ran and ask him to try his best to transfer another batch of grain and grass to Xicheng within half a month."

"promise."
Chapter completed!