I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 156 Li Heng: I have to worry about Cao Shuang!

In mid-May, Cao Shuang was forced to begin withdrawing his troops.

As we all know, it is more difficult to withdraw troops than to send them.

To send troops is to send troops from your own territory. When sending troops, you must find a legitimate reason to motivate the whole army.

At this time, the three armies were in high morale.

But the withdrawal is from the enemy's territory, very close to the enemy.

And at the moment when the withdrawal of troops began, there were some rumors in the army.

Was it a defeat?
Or was the coach dismissed?
In short, there are tens of thousands of troops, and people do not have mobile phones, so there is no way to achieve consistent information.

The human heart is like water!
Then suspicion began.

Once suspicion begins, panic begins.

Once panic sets in, morale begins to sink.

At this time, we are on the enemy's territory again. If the enemy is aggressive, we will be in danger of being defeated.

Since ancient times, many famous generals have known the tactic of retreating in order to advance, but how many of them actually dare to use this tactic?
Now Cao Shuang is facing such a problem.

If it were just a withdrawal order from Luoyang, Cao Shuang could have been dilly-dallying for more than half a month.

Even if there is a Qiang and Di rebellion in Jincheng County, Cao Shuang can send people back to Hexi to mobilize a group of Wei troops who stayed behind to arrive in Jincheng County and temporarily stabilize the situation.

But the rebellion in Xiping County was completely different.

The core area of ​​Xiping County is the Huangshui River Basin, which is cut off from Hexi by the majestic Qilian Mountains. It is far more difficult for the Wei army to reach Huangshui than to reach Jincheng County.

Moreover, once Xiping County is occupied by the Qiang people, the Qiang people in Jincheng County to the east may respond in groups.

At that time, Cao Shuang's retreat back to Hexi was cut off.

Of course Cao Shuang can kill the Qiang people all the way through Jincheng County, but this will take time. During this time, will Wei Yan give him a chance to breathe?

So now there is not much room for maneuver left to Cao Shuang.

This was the fundamental reason for his decisive withdrawal.

And this withdrawal is very useless.

He must hide it from Wei Yan and buy time for the main force to retreat.

To deceive the Han scouts, he could only leave part of his troops here, as well as his banners, tents, and most of his food and baggage.

This prevented the Han army scouts from quickly detecting the strangeness.

As long as he can hold off for more than five days, he can basically return to Jincheng County smoothly.

But three days later, Wei Yan noticed clues from the numerous reports from the scouts.

On May [-]th, without even thinking about it, Wei Yan led [-] soldiers and horses out of the city and attacked the Wei army.

Everyone thought Wei Yan was crazy.

But within half a day, the Wei army stationed outside the city suffered a large-scale rout.

This undoubtedly verified his guess, and then Wei Yanze personally led two thousand cavalry in a frantic pursuit towards the north.

By May 21st, Cao Shuang learned from his scouts that the Han army was catching up.

Another three thousand soldiers and horses were quickly dispatched to intercept.

During the Fourth Northern Expedition, Wei Yan was the one who beat Sima Yi into isolation.

How can these three thousand soldiers and horses be enough for Wei Yan to fight?
On May 22, the two armies met and fought head-on.

That afternoon, the Wei army was defeated and collapsed.

Cao Shuang, who was on his way to Jincheng County in the evening, was shocked when he learned the news.

Cao Xi thought that if the Han army pursued them so quickly, they must not have many soldiers and horses, so it would be better for the whole army to turn around and eat this Han army.

This proposal was rejected on the spot by a panicked Cao Shuang. Cao Shuang: It’s not that I’m afraid of Shu dogs, it’s that I remember to go back and stabilize the rear area!
So on the 23rd, Cao Shuang sent another three thousand troops to cut off the rear.

Then, he was defeated by Wei Yan again.

It was not until the 25th that Cao Shuang finally returned to Jincheng County in embarrassment.

The total number of troops originally sent out was nearly 5, but when they came back, they only had more than 2, more than half of which was lost.

Fortunately, the elite main force was saved.

Fortunately, the Qiang people in Jincheng County have not raised their troops yet, so the overall situation is considered stable.

On May 26, Zhuge Liang received the latest report from Tianshui County and couldn't help laughing: "Cao Shuang ran away, but left us fifteen thousand prisoners!"

Huo Yi said: "In this way, the number of troops in Guanzhong can be increased by another [-]."

Zhuge Liang said: "No, no, these 5000 people do not need to be transferred to Guanzhong."

"Not transferred to Guanzhong?" Yang Yi took over the words, "Prime Minister, the most important thing is to keep an eye on the situation in Guanzhong. Guo Huai has sent more troops to the Chencang front again and again."

"Guo Huai only dares to fight in small quantities and does not dare to engage in major war." Zhuge Liang said, "Adding another 5000 troops to Guanzhong will not have much impact on the situation of the war, but it will still waste food and grass."

"Then how to arrange these 5000 people?"

"Put it on the right side of Longyou. Mo Zhezai has already raised troops to attack Xiping County, but the Wei army will not give up. So next, our army must send troops to reinforce Xiping County to stabilize the victory that was finally won. This requires more manpower."

Zhuge Liang fell silent and frowned in thought.

Everyone didn't know what Zhuge Liang was thinking about, and they didn't dare to interrupt him, so they had to stay quiet.

After a while, Zhuge Liang said: "Ji'an mentioned to me that if you want to conquer Hexi, you must fill Longyou Free Trade City to gather Qiang and Di for our use. Currently, Longyou is short of officials who can take charge of the overall situation."

After saying that, Zhuge Liang's eyes fell on Huo Yi.

"Shaoxian, I hope you can take on this important task."

Huo Yi was stunned, and hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "I am a low-ranking official with little talent and little knowledge. I'm afraid..."

"I believe you can do well."

Huo Yi's heart moved and he said quickly: "Thanks to the trust of the Prime Minister, I will do my best!"

"Remember, your mission is to unite the Qiang and Di, as well as the counties in Hexi through trade."

"Your Majesty understands."

"This time, Ji'an's new salt played a vital role." Zhuge Liang said, "I have already informed His Majesty that he was promoted to Shaofu."

Everyone looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

Previously, Dan Cheng was dismissed from his post, leaving the Shaofu vacant, and the various functional offices of the Shaofu were temporarily handed over to the Ministry of Works.

Now it is completely placed under the Ministry of Industry.

This will undoubtedly be of huge benefit to Li Heng in implementing many policies.

It is said that the situation in Guanzhong did not cause any big waves, and the battle in Longyou ended without any problem. Therefore, the situation in the entire Three Kingdoms still maintains a delicate balance.

But in early June, Li Heng learned the news that Cao Shuang had fled back in embarrassment. After thinking about it, he felt that the matter was not over yet.

So he took up his pen and wrote a letter to Zhuge Liang about restricting the situation in the Wei court.

In the letter, he stated the basic structure of the high-level officials of the Wei Dynasty.

As an important minister, Sima Yi was recognized as a capable minister by everyone in the Wei court. Although he failed in Guanzhong last year, his prestige was still great.

Chen Qun was both an independent and important minister, but Chen Qun was mainly engaged in literature and neglected military affairs, and he was already old.

If Chen Qun dies, the structure of the Cao Wei court will be unbalanced.

According to historical trends, Cao Shuang cannot defeat Sima Yi.

If Cao Shuang is still weakened at this time, it will be even more dangerous.

(End of this chapter)