"Master, it's safe to send letters to the north, but we need to pay attention to the deployment of heavy troops to guard against thieves in the south!"

"Lan Shi is talking about Luoyang?"

"Exactly." Fu Gu reminded, "The gate to the west of Luoyang has been lost. Western thieves can attack the city at any time, so we must be on guard!"

"How could I not know?" Sima Yi was confident, "It's just that in my opinion, the thieves broke through Hangu Pass, but were unable to move forward in Shaanxi. It's not that they don't want to take Luoyang, but they are really worried."

When Fu Gu heard this, he was slightly startled:

"You are so stupid, why did the Master say this?"

Sima Yi showed a somewhat enigmatic smile, pointed to the edge of the guide, and said two words: "Wu Kou."

"Wu Kou?"

"Exactly." Sima Yi stood up, with a deep look in his eyes, and said with his hands behind his back, "In the past, the Western bandits and the Wu invaders swore to attack the Wei Dynasty together. There was an agreement that the east of Hangu Pass belongs to the Wu invaders."

Having said this, Sima Yi had a rather complicated look on his face:

"At that time, the Wei Dynasty was at its peak, with eight out of ten people in the world, and Shu and Wu were just bandits in a barbaric borderland."

"In the eyes of the world, the so-called oath of the two thieves is just a clown, just making people laugh. Who would have expected... Alas!"

Who could have expected that in just ten years, the world would be overturned and the situation would change.

But Sima Yi soon sneered again:

"However, although the rampage of the Western bandits was unexpected, the Wu invaders were expected."

"At that time, the Wei Dynasty was strong but the bandits were weak, so the two thieves had to join forces to fight against the Wei Dynasty."

"Now that the Western bandits are powerful, they have taken all the land in the west and are able to fight against the Wei Dynasty. They no longer need the help of Wu Kou."

"But the Wu invaders are still blocked at the gate of Hefei City. This is just like two thieves dividing the spoils. One thief gets all the benefits, while the other thief only gets a tiny bit."

Sima Yi looked at Fu Gu and asked, "Lan Shi, do you think Sun Quan is willing to do this?"

Fu Gu's eyes lit up: "The Taifu's intention is that the alliance between the Western thieves and the Wu bandits will break up again?"

"Humph!" Sima Yi smiled solemnly, "The Wu bandits are short-sighted and forget their loyalty when they see profit. Otherwise, how could the incident in Jingzhou have happened?"

When he lured Sun Quan to defect from the alliance and attack Jingzhou, Sima Yi also participated in the plan.

Therefore, he naturally has a deep grasp of Wu people's psychology.

The reason why the Wu invaders are short-sighted is that in hindsight, the Wu people's attack on Jingzhou did more harm than good.

Although it ensured the safety of the upper reaches of Jiangdong, it also almost put itself into a certain death situation.

If Emperor Wen had listened to his advice and taken the opportunity to attack the Wu invaders from the north when Shu and Wu were fighting, Sun Quan would have been imprisoned long ago.

Once the Wu Kingdom is destroyed, can the Shu Kingdom survive alone?

If the Kingdom of Shu does not exist, how can it cause today's troubles?

"So in my opinion, the foundation of the alliance between the two thieves no longer exists, just like how Sun Quan did not want Liu Bei to become powerful and break the alliance to attack Guan Yu in the past!"

Sima Yi looked at Fu Gu, with a glint in his eyes, "In the past, Sun Quan broke his promise and attacked Jingzhou, and Lu Xun defeated Liu Bei in Yiling. This can be said to be a great hatred and humiliation for the Western thieves."

"Once the Western bandits become too powerful to be controlled, not only is this not what Sun Quan wants to see, but he will even be frightened, lest the Western bandits overturn the old accounts of Jingzhou and settle the old enmity of Yiling."

"At this time, Sun Quan's unwillingness to let the Western bandits gain power is even more serious than when Guan Yu attacked Xiangfan. Therefore, in my opinion, the alliance of thieves and bandits has indeed reached a critical stage."

Sima Yi stretched out his left hand, pressed his index finger with his thumb, and exposed a little of his fingertip, "Now, it only takes a little provocation between them, and they will have their own suspicions."

As he spoke, he let out a long breath:

"As long as we can delay the thieves' rebellion, then Wei will probably have a chance..."

I don't know if it was an illusion, but when Fu Gu heard this last sentence, he felt that there was a hint of helplessness and sigh in the Taifu's tone.

But Fu Gu had no time to think about this, but when he saw his expression change, he took a step forward, lowered his voice subconsciously, and said urgently:

"Master, this Luoyang is not just a little provocative!"

"Lan Shi, don't be anxious!" Sima Yi pressed his hand down, "Just listen to what I have to say."

Fu Gu had no choice but to suppress his anxious mood and listen to Sima Yi's next words.

"Lan Shi, once Hangu Pass and Shaanxi are lost, there will be no danger to the west of Luoyang. The thieves can march straight in at any time and attack the city."

Sima Yi sighed deeply, "If you want to defend Luoyang, your only hope is to defeat the thieves before they besiege the city. If you want to defend the city, it is absolutely impossible."

The city of Luoyang is too big. If you want to defend the city, you will need too many troops.

But if you really want to keep the army in the city, it will be a huge burden for people to eat horse chews, food, grass, drinking water, firewood, etc.

Moreover, if the city is too big, the commander will easily focus on one thing and not the other, and it will be difficult for the various battalions to respond to each other.

If any corner is breached, rescue will fail and the defense will inevitably fall.

Not to mention that the opponent also has powerful siege weapons such as stone cannons.

But if you can't defend by the city, then you can only set up more forts and forts outside the city like you did in Chang'an, and fortify them layer by layer.

But if this happens, we will have to fight a wild battle with the Western bandits.

Sima Taifu, who had fought against the Western thieves many times, every time he thought of the thieves' cunning and fierceness, his psychological shadow was almost as big as that of Luoyang City...

"The bandit army is extremely sharp. It's difficult to fight with them in the wild without any confidence!"

If you don't dare to fight in the field and you can't defend the city, won't it be even more difficult?

After listening to Taifu's explanation, Fu Gu knew that what he said was true, and he couldn't help but let out a low sigh:

"What can I do?"

Sima Yi cheered up and said:

"Therefore, in my opinion, Luoyang is difficult to defend. To defend it forcefully would do more harm than good. It is better to use it as a bait to sow discord between thieves and bandits."

Even the Taifu felt that the thieves were too powerful to control, and Fu Gu's mood became a little depressed:

"But I don't know what Taifu plans to do?"

Sima Yi was silent for a moment, then smiled helplessly and said:

"do nothing."

Fu Gu was startled: "Do nothing?"

"Yes, do nothing. Since you can't do anything, you might as well do nothing."

Sima Yi seemed to have thought about this question a long time ago and just replied calmly.

Fu Gu was surprised when he heard Sima Yi's words, and then felt sad.

Although what Taifu said is a bit hard to accept, it is a cruel fact.

Sima Yi looked at Fu Gu and asked:

"What does Lan Shi think Sun Quan will think of Luoyang? In other words, what actions will he take?"

Fu Gu thought for a moment and replied:

"Luoyang is under the attack of the Western bandits, but it is far away from the Wu invaders. No matter how unwilling Sun Quan is, he may not be able to stop the Western bandits from continuing to the east."

Sima Yi intercepted and said:

"No matter how difficult it is to stop him, he will still have to stop it. I believe that Sun Quan will never be willing to just watch the Western bandits take Luoyang."

Fu Gu nodded and agreed: "Yes, so according to Gu, Sun Quan will either use the alliance between thieves and bandits as an excuse to persuade the Western thieves not to continue to advance eastward and capture Luoyang."

"If persuasion fails, then we can only take a step back and let the Western thieves temporarily take Luoyang and return it later."

"Borrowing Jingzhou?"

"That's right, it's like borrowing a story from Jingzhou."

"Hahaha!" Sima Yi laughed, "What Lan Shi said is exactly what I think!"

After smiling, the wrinkles on Sima Yi's face relaxed, and the previous depressed look was wiped away:

"It would be best if Sun Quan could prevent the Western thieves from attacking Luoyang. In this way, Luoyang will be safe."

It's not that he looked down on Sun Quan, but in Sima Yi's eyes, it would be impossible for the Wu invaders to attack Luoyang from the southeast on their own in this life.

But Sima Yi shook his head again, "Just thinking about it, I'm afraid this is just wishful thinking on our part."

"I'm just borrowing Luoyang..." Sima Yi paused and smiled coldly, "Luoyang is really going to fall into the hands of the Western thieves, how can there be any reason to give it to the Wu invaders?"

The slogan of the Western thieves "reviving the Han Dynasty and returning it to the old capital" was loud. This old capital was not only Chang'an, the old capital of the former Han Dynasty, but also Luoyang, the old capital of the later Han Dynasty.

Unless the Western thieves don't admit that the Later Han Dynasty is also a Han Dynasty.

No matter Liu Chan or Feng Yong, if anyone dares to mention giving Luoyang, the old capital, to the Wu invaders, it will be like annihilating themselves from the world.

Therefore, as long as the Western thieves really captured Luoyang, they would never be able to send them out again.

Sima Yi understood this, and Sun Quan must have understood it too.

"Wonderful!" Fu Gu came to his senses after hearing Sima Yi's analysis. "It's impossible for the Western thieves not to take Luoyang, but as long as they take it, in Sun Quan's eyes, this move is tantamount to breaking the covenant."

"Even if Sun Quan is forced by the situation, he will not do anything on the surface, but in reality, it is impossible to say what he is thinking in his heart!"
To be continued...