Chapter 277 Wei Wen
When Duan Yihong came, he already knew that this battle had to be resolved quickly.

Once it is delayed for too long, changes will inevitably occur.

Once troops were sent out from Guanzhong, heading east through the Xiaohan Road and reaching the suburbs of Luoyang, the country would be in imminent danger.

The reason why troops have not been sent out yet is simply because there were wars in Guanzhong last year and the year before, which had a great impact on the already impoverished people's livelihood.

In addition, the Li family also had to appease the wealthy families, aristocratic families and common people in Guanzhong, and integrate Guanzhong's war resources.

This is to prevent the army from moving eastward and causing unrest in Chang'an and Guanzhong hinterland.

So there is not much time left for them.

How to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible became an issue that several generals of the Eastern Yan army needed to discuss.

Li Yuanhui and Li Xuanqing in Yancheng also received letters sent by express horses from Chang'an.

The Prime Minister's Office has already made a decision, appointing Li Er as the marching commander-in-chief, and Chai Rong, Yuwen She, and Li Huaizhen as deputy commanders-in-chief, to lead 50,000 infantry and cavalry to rush to the aid of Yingchuan.

After Li Yuanhui saw the letter, he immediately said excitedly: "Second brother is here to help, the matter will be resolved!"

Li San also nodded and said, "It seems that we only need to delay him for two months, and when the second brother arrives, we can launch a counterattack."

The army assembled in Guanzhong and set out to cross the Wugu Pass. A mixed march of cavalry and infantry would certainly not be fast, so Li San and Li Si both felt that it would be good if they could arrive within two months.

Moreover, the Eastern Yan army must be eager for a decisive battle now, so he cannot do as he wishes at this time. It is best to wait until the other side can no longer bear it and launch a strong attack, letting the other side consume its fighting spirit in front of the camp with deep trenches and high ravines.

This way, the Western Yan army will be more advantageous when the two sides engage in a decisive battle.

After a long march, the Eastern Yan army faced the tight defense of the Western Yan army. Although Duan Yihong was anxious, he knew that he could not be hasty at the moment and the army needed to be rehabilitated.

Even if you want to attack the enemy's camp directly, you need time to prepare some siege equipment.

At this time, in terms of the military strength of the two sides in the Yingchuan battlefield, the Eastern Yan army still had some advantages.

Zheng Guo's troops had more than 30,000 people, Lou Jushi's troops had more than 20,000 people, Yingchuan prefect Jiang Yi had several thousand people under his command, plus the main force of the central army led by Duan Yihong with 100,000 people, totaling almost 160,000 people. At the same time, Li Yaoshi commanded 20,000 people in Liang County.

On the Western Yan side, the Jingzhou army led by Li Sanlang had more than 40,000 troops, and the Yangzhou army led by Li Yuanhui had about 60,000 troops, which together formed the main force of 100,000 troops.

In Chen County, there were more than 8,000 Guide troops led by Xiao Shizhi, and more than 10,000 troops under Liu Yuanqing. As a detachment, they had a total of about 20,000 troops. Their mission was to guard Chen County and keep an eye on Li Yaoshi's troops in Liang County.

Li Yuanhui was still very worried that this military god-level figure would suddenly stab him in the back, which could be fatal.

At this time, Yingchuan had gathered more than 200,000 troops from the Eastern and Western Yan states. If the supporting troops on the way were included, there were more than 300,000 troops.

The Jianghuai Military Group, the largest local faction of Western Yan, has almost sent out all its elite troops, and the Liangzhou Legion and some of the elite troops of the central army are also on the way.

There are only three left of the five great generals of Eastern Yan, including the only surviving veteran who followed Emperor Wu into the Central Plains - Lou Jushi.

The only king of Dayan with a different surname was Lingzhi Wang Duan Yihong.

One of the representative Han military leaders, Zheng Guo.

The rest of the famous generals are too numerous to count, including Yuchi Gong, Yu Juluo, Pu Gusu, Duan Wuchen, Murong Fengxian, Chen Ling, and Dugu Qiuyu.
A war of this scale, with so many famous teachers and generals, is very likely to determine the direction of the world's situation, and naturally attracted the attention of all forces in the world.

When Cao Yuanjing of Jiangdong heard that Li Yuanhui was advancing northward with great momentum and was already hundreds of miles away from Luoyang, he sighed for a long time and said helplessly: "The one who can stabilize the world is probably the Li family, right?"

Cao Yuanjing had been bedridden for several months, and despite careful care, he still did not get better. Worst of all, Zhang Fangping, the Minister of Works and Recorder of the Secretariat, who was known as the Zhuge of Jiangdong, was also seriously ill. This meant that the two backbones of the Jiangdong Eastern Wei regime were both seriously ill.

The only ones left in the pro-war faction were General Miao Xianyun, King of Chu Cao Cheng, and Crown Prince Cao Yan.

Others, such as Situ Gu Yuanyou, Taiwei He Miao and other representatives of the Jiangdong nobles, all opposed continuing the Northern Expedition.

The reason is also very tenable. Since the establishment of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, there has been war every year, the soldiers are exhausted, and the people have to bear heavy taxes and corvee labor.

However, the Northern Expedition never made any progress. The three battles of Ruxukou resulted in heavy casualties and tens of thousands of people died in Jiangbei.

And now the emperor is still ill, how can we fight? What can we use to fight?

After several consecutive court debates, Crown Prince Cao Yan and Miao Xianyun were refuted and speechless. Cao Yuanjing was unable to get up and attend to affairs, so naturally he could not stand up and advocate for the Northern Expedition.

Therefore, faced with such a rare opportunity for the main force of the Jianghuai army, the Eastern Wei was unable to launch a northern expedition.

Even Cao Yuanjing, who was lying on the bed, felt that even if he sent troops, he might not achieve any good results.

Even if the main force of the Jianghuai Army was sent north, because Ruxu Fort was recaptured by Jianghuai, more than 60,000 troops in Yuzhang and Poyang Lake, including about 20,000 naval forces, withdrew to Chaohu Lake, which was enough to take on the task of defending Jianghuai.

Moreover, the Jianghuai Army is in Yingchuan. They can take a boat ride for a few days and then launch a surprise attack along the Yingshui River.

Therefore, even if they were to march north, they still had to tackle the tough nut of Ruxuwu, and there were two other pass cities, East Gate and West Gate, behind them.

What benefits can I get?
Therefore, after several consecutive defeats and Emperor Cao Yuanjing being seriously ill, the Eastern Wei's plan to send troops was declared bankrupt.

In Xiangyang, Jingzhou upstream, King Cao Xuan of Wei also did not act rashly after carefully studying the situation, but was already preparing the food and other supplies needed for the troops.

"The two Yan armies have just arrived in Yingchuan, and the war has not yet entered a tense state. Our army must not be impatient. We must wait until they are at the point of being inseparable. I can send troops to recapture Wancheng or Jiangxia. If the two Yan armies fight to the point of being defeated, it may not be impossible for us to go north to Luoyang."

Cao Xuan told his plan to a group of officials, including General Ding Jingzhen, Lei Shimeng, You Zilu, etc., all of whom praised "the king's wisdom" in unison.

Only Kuai Wenxian, the Minister of the Chancellery, remained silent. After they came out of the Mingtang, General Xiang Xun, the nephew's husband and also a member of the Jingzhou noble family, asked, "Uncle, you didn't say a word in the hall just now. Do you think that what King Cao is planning is inappropriate?"

Kuai Wenxian shook his head and said, "No, King Cao has planned everything, without missing anything. But..."

"Since ancient times, all heroes who have conquered the world have risen up by taking advantage of the situation. However, if there is a one-in-a-million chance, one should also fight hard and face the challenge. Now the Western Yan is marching eastward, and the two sides will make a decisive move in Yingyin. If they win, the world will be settled. This battle is about the artifact. If you don't want to be a minister, you should send troops immediately, take back Wancheng, and work together with Luoyang to defeat the two sons of the Li family. Now you are hesitating and waiting for success or failure. Can you conquer the world?"

Xiang Xun heard this and said with a smile: "So our King Cao is very much like his ancestor Emperor Wen of Wei."

Kuai Wenxian smiled when he heard this. What did Xiang Xun mean by this? It was obvious that he was not praising her.

When Liu Bei was attacking Wu and the two sides were fighting in Yiling, Liu Ye persuaded Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi, to send troops, saying that now they could destroy Wu. However, Cao Pi refused, saying that the other side had already surrendered and could not be fought. It was too unfair. What did people in the world think of this?
As a result, after the Battle of Yiling, the Eastern Wu had gained confidence and morale. At this time, Cao Pi suddenly had a brain accident and wanted to attack Wu, but was pulled back by Wu's second brother.

This was probably Wei's best chance to unify the Three Kingdoms, but it was wasted.

Although the current situation is different from that time, if we don’t send troops while Western Yan and Eastern Yan are fighting, should we wait for them to decide the winner?

If this isn’t a brain seizure, what is this?
Kuai Wenxian and Xiang Xun were both from Jingzhou noble families, and they originally cooperated with Cao Xuan not because of his great talent, but because he happened to occupy Jingzhou.

The first rule of survival in troubled times is that the nobles must cooperate with the warlords who occupy their hometown.

(End of this chapter)