I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 334 Li Heng wields the blade, while Sima Yi walks the tightrope
The Han army began to replenish food in Xuchang City.

A lot of people in Xuchang City fled last night.

Whether they are princes, nobles, officials, scholars, or ordinary people.

By the time the Han army actually entered the city, half of the city's population had been reduced.

There was apparently unprecedented chaos and panic in the city.

News of the massacre spread throughout the city.

Refugees and gangsters took the opportunity to start looting everywhere.

And Li Heng's first order when he entered: We are Master Wang! If you encounter gangsters and ruffians who rob you, you will be executed on the spot!

For example, in the morning, a group of bullies in Xuchang took advantage of the lack of order and robbed many people.

When the Han army came in, the leader planned to bring some gold, silver, and food to honor the Han army.

The news spread very quickly, and more and more people were receiving food.

Nothing happened that day. After resting for a night, Sima Zhao continued on his way.

"The Shu army is...distributing food to the people!"

By the afternoon, people actually went to the south of the city to collect food.

He even sent an order to inform the whole city that there was food available in the south of the city.

Sima Zhao was stunned for a moment, thinking that he heard wrongly. It took him a long time to come back to his senses: "Where did the Shu army get their food?"

As soon as he said this, Sima Zhao realized that he had said it wrong.

In the evening, Sima Zhao's scouts returned.

"What? Are the Shu army massacring the city?"

You know, Xuchang is not just as simple as accompanying the capital.

To the north of Xuchang is Chenliu Kingdom, which is located on the bank of the Yellow River. It is the hinterland of the Central Plains and an important node for water transportation in the Wei Dynasty.

For a time, Luoyang set off huge waves, causing countless people to panic.

Not only did the rumored massacre of the city not take place, but rumors about the enemy... oh no, Master Wang's reorganization of order began to spread in the city.

The grain transported from Hebei and Southeast to Luoyang will stop in Chenliuguo (Kaifeng and surrounding areas).

Moreover, Li Heng specially focused on the noble families, and dragged out the mountains of grain from the granary and began to distribute it.

On May 15, news of Xuchang's capture reached Luoyang.

Damn it, even Xuchang has been conquered, where can we find food?
Shugou is still the usual trick to win people's hearts!

By noon, the order in Xuchang City slowly stabilized.

He was executed on the spot, and everyone who followed him was arrested and executed on the spot while kneeling in the street.

The officials in the Han army shouted: "Those who dare to attack their homes and rob their homes will be killed without mercy!"

People lining up to leave the city also began to realize that there was no massacre.

If that place is threatened by the Han army's front, water transportation will inevitably be affected.

Water transportation is the foundation of a country.

In this era, there was not yet a complete Grand Canal system, and the North Canal was not yet connected. The Yellow River in the Hebei section was an important route for transporting grain from Hebei to Luoyang.

This section of the Yellow River is the bend in Chenliuguo.

Moreover, many rivers in the southeast are connected to Chenliu Kingdom.

This is also the reason why Bianzhou became a commercial hub and grain transfer station in the Central Plains during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and it was also the reason why Kaifeng was the capital of the Song Dynasty.

An Lushan rebelled, launched a lightning raid on Luoyang, and attacked Bianzhou. Apart from political factors, they also cut off the water transportation of the Tang Dynasty.

In the water transport section, for Chang'an, both strategic and tactical control space are locked up on a large scale. Li Heng told Guan Tong before that expanding the front line to the Yellow River would bring great pressure to Luoyang. This is why.

The so-called political pressure cannot be fatal in a short period of time.

But food pressure costs lives.

Sima Yi, who had always been calm, was silent for a long time.

But Sima Yi did not panic, but began to deploy troops and generals in the next step.

He judged from Sima Division's report that Li Heng was the one who took a detour to raid Xuchang.

This shows that the troops on the front line have not suffered a blow.

The entire battle situation has a lot of room for maneuver.

There is ample room for strategic and tactical maneuvering.

For example, it is possible to rely on depth to consume the strength of the Han army, even at the expense of people's livelihood in some places.

The characteristic of this tactic is to extend the time and trade time for space. The longer the distance Li Heng travels north, the harder it will be to return, and in the end he will have no choice but to die.

For another example, if Li Heng confronts Sima Zhao in Xuchang, then Sima Yi can dispatch the local garrison in Yuzhou to help.

Although the local garrison's combat effectiveness was not good, they were able to cooperate with Sima Zhao and encircle the Han army.

From Sima Yi's perspective, there is definitely a lot of room for control.

But when operating these, he also faced several problems:
One is political pressure.

Empty power without prestige will not last long.

Prestige is based on positive results.

He had promised to send Sima Division over before, but with a sudden operation, the Han army reached the Central Plains!
Not to mention that the local military bosses were rolling on the floor laughing after hearing this and were even more dissatisfied with Sima Yi. Luoyang was also full of complaints at this time.

But Luoyang will not immediately force Sima Yi to marry him, because there is no benefit in forcing Sima Yi to marry him now. I am afraid that Luoyang cannot find a second person who can stabilize the overall situation better than Sima Yi.

The second is the issue of troop sources.

Almost four-fifths of Luoyang's imperial army had been mobilized, leaving more than 10,000 troops.

Now that the situation has reached this point, if Li Heng continues to move north, Sima Yi will no longer be able to dispatch troops from Luoyang for reinforcements.

He would either mobilize troops from Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou or Jizhou.

The governor of Jizhou was Guanqiu Jian, an extremely difficult guy who had problems with Sima Yi himself.

Not to mention Wang Ling, the governor of Yangzhou.

Qingzhou soldiers are not considered elite, and Xuzhou soldiers are not many in number, but like Yangzhou, they defend Sun Quan.

Moreover, these local military districts have not been replaced since Sima Yi seized power, and their attitude is more focused on watching the show.

At this time, Sima Yi realized that the source of troops could only be transferred from Guanzhong.

But Sima Yi held back. Guanzhong was now the most critical moment. As long as he persisted until Zhuge Liang died, the Western Front would win.

Therefore, apart from dispatching the local garrison in Yuzhou, that is, the foreign army, Sima Yi did not provide any further assistance to Sima Division.

This is a war in which many parties are fighting on the front lines, and many parties are constrained by various factors.

But in this strange war, the battle lines were stretched and deepened crazily by Li Heng!
May 16th.

"General, Xiangcheng is ahead." Chen Qian, who joined the army, said.

"Li Jian must have arranged troops and horses near Xiangcheng, waiting for work." Sima Zhao said with a smile, "This is the moment I have been waiting for. Our army has enough cavalry and can respond at any time. We don't have to worry about the other party waiting for work. But if we can drag Li Jian in Xiangcheng, Luoyang and another army from Yuzhou can be dragged on until Zhuge Liang is dead, and the whole chess game will be alive. "

Chen Qian said: "The general is wise, and the one who is most anxious now is Li Jian. He is eager to go north, make a big noise, and force us to mobilize troops from the western front."

Not long after, the scout came back: "Report! General, no signs of the Shu army have been found in Xiangcheng!"

(End of this chapter)