The revival of Shu Han

Chapter 256 Food Issues

The time came to December in AD 267.The people of all ethnic groups in the Guanzhong area north of the Qinling Mountains were horrified to find that the temperature was getting lower and lower in December, but the heavy snow they were looking forward to had still not arrived.Not to mention the large-scale heavy snow, even the light snow in some areas!
Any experienced farmer knows that next year will be another disaster year.

It was December, and Shi Bao did not leave Qinchuan as originally planned, and then joined forces with Sima Wang to besiege Guan Yi in Mei County. There was no other reason: Jiang Wei did not leave at Jieting.

This battle has been fought until now, whether it is Shi Bao on the northern line or Sima Wang on the southern line, they have deeply realized that the Shu Han is really not what it used to be.

In the past, during the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han, all they thought about was how to conduct a decisive battle quickly.Because their food is extremely limited and they cannot tolerate consumption.Therefore, it is generally the generals of the Wei State who find a strong city to defend, and then sit back and watch the opponent retreat after running out of supplies.But this time?The war has been going on for two months, and neither Jiang Wei nor Guan Yi dared to confront their own side in the solid city defense.If there is not enough food, it is absolutely impossible to do so.

In short, Jiang Wei did not leave at Jieting.Shi Bao didn't dare to leave in Qinchuan.If he doesn't leave, Sima Wang will not be able to completely encircle Mei County on the southern line.Then Guan Yi can still transport the grain from Hanzhong to the two cities in an endless stream.And every stone of grain in Guan Yi's city means that the siege of Mei County will cost more lives of our soldiers in the future!

"Shiyuan did see Jiang Wei at the street pavilion, right?"

"Yes, Da Sima. The general had spoken to Jiang Wei before, so he will never admit his mistake. He just went there to give Jiang Wei a gift on behalf of Da Sima five days ago, and he was the one who met him personally. Well, this is his return gift. ..."

"It shouldn't be, why is this guy still in Jieting? Don't tell me he's here, and then his army left first?"

"Great Sima, the final general is sure, he didn't leave, and neither did his army." It was Shi Chong who said this. In the name of the general, he went to Jieting many times to investigate.

Jiang Wei didn't care about this obvious espionage behavior. On the contrary, he showed his army and the new Xiaochangguan very frankly to the other party.Every time the two came, Jiang Wei would take them to watch the cavalry training on their own side, and even take them to hunt and other recreational activities.

In a word: I'm in Jieting, I'm not leaving, Shi Bao, what do you think?
What can Shi Bao do?Wang Jun under his command is definitely a talent, but he is not at ease yet if Wang Jun is to fight against Jiang Wei's 2 to 7 people with [-] people.Therefore, if Jiang Wei doesn't leave, he can only spend his time here.

But it won't work here.Simawang had the support of the [-] Luoyang Chinese Army that was originally assigned to Shi Bao, but Simawang's force added to the [-] cavalry from the Bald Department, and now it is only in the early [-]s (Tongguan's [-] cannot be moved. ), this force cannot launch a fortified battle against Mei County.However, if Guan Yi in Mei County was not eliminated or driven away, Jin would not be able to concentrate its forces to enter Longxi.If they can't enter Longxi as soon as possible, the Shu Han's rule in Longxi will become stronger and stronger.

Speaking of which, in the past month or so, Wu Qiao and Laiqing have been the most beautiful.After the entire Longxi Legion of the Jin State was wiped out, their 8000-strong detachment was simply invincible in the four counties of Longxi.Within a month, Nan'an, Longxi, and Jincheng County in Liangzhou were captured almost without bloodshed.Along the way, countless aliens either voluntarily or were forced to hand over many soldiers to join this army. By the time the two soldiers pointed directly at Xiping County further west, the team had expanded to [-] people.

The Wu Lai detachment made great strides, and Chen Can, who was sitting in Jicheng, was not idle.It was the first time that the Shu Han won such a vast territory, and there were countless more official places.The Yizhou people who had been squeezed for decades, and the less successful descendants of the Jingzhou School and Dongzhou School flooded Chen Can's yamen in an instant. With a scarlet tongue out, she looked at Chen Can pitifully, hoping to get a good official position.

As the son of the former Shang Shuling, Chen Can lived a life full of attention and stars in his early years.After his father died, he went to Fuling County, but there was no one to see him off except for one eunuch.Now, that feeling of flattery from earlier days has returned.

Chen Can, who has experienced the ups and downs of human relationships, of course knows what to do at this time.Although he is a veteran of the Fuxing Society, he has a good personal relationship with Sima Guan.But in this matter, he took the initiative to delegate power, and invited Que Zheng and Chang Ji to come to Jicheng to preside over the selection and appointment of officials in Longxi and Liangzhou.But he himself took up the logistics work of the entire Northern Expedition Corps.

"Uncle He, how much inventory is there in Jicheng now?"

"Biejia, as of December 130 today, the Jicheng Grain Depot has 60 million shi of grain and [-] shi of hay."

"Well, what about the street pavilion?"

"The road to Jieting is far away, and the road conditions are not very good. So there are only 40 shi of grain and 15 shi of hay."

"That's not bad. Do you have the number from Da Sima's side?"

"Uh, don't worry, the figures on Da Sima's side are from fifteen days ago. They are 110 million shi of grain and 40 shi of hay."

"Well, this is 280 million shi of grain. How much do we have in stock in Hanzhong and Wudu?"

"This, my subordinates will check it out, oh, Da Sima, as of the report received yesterday. At present, there are still 300 million shi of grain in the Wudu warehouse, and 300 million shi of grain in the Hanzhong warehouse."

"In other words, our army has consumed 120 million shi of food since the war started for more than two months? Why so much?"

"Uh, don't worry about it. Of the 120 million shi of food that was consumed, only about 60 shi were eaten by the soldiers, soldiers, horses, and pack horses. The rest, about 30 shi, were in the Lost during the transportation process. This part of the loss can be reduced with the erection of the ziplines between the foot of the Qinling Mountains and the slowdown of the current high-intensity grain transportation work. Hmm... there are still 30 shi , Da Sima recruited local people to build Anguo City in Mei County, and our two generals, Wu and Lai, went west to Liangzhou and sent out capable cavalry to attract more foreign tribes..."

"That is to say, the monthly consumption of our army, people eat horse chews plus the loss on the road and some additional expenses, at present, it is 60 shi a month?"

"Yes. But this kind of consumption will be gradually reduced. If the main force of the general is still stationed in Jieting, from next month, the consumption will be about 50 shi. If the main force of the general goes south, it should be able to reduce It's within 45 shi. It's just that if the troops of the two generals Wu and Lai continue to go deep into Liangzhou, the consumption will increase."

"Hey, my brother prepared 1000 million shi of food for the first phase of the Northern Expedition. We all thought it was enough. Now it seems that it is still not enough. I really don't know how the great general sent troops with hundreds of thousands of shi of food in the Northern Expedition. survived."

"Uh... the subordinates feel that we can also adopt the general's previous strategy of sacrificing food to the enemy."

"Hahahaha, Uncle He, didn't you see that it's already December, and there hasn't been a single snow in Longxi? This kind of dry and cold weather can't kill the locust eggs in the ground. Next year, this place will have another It must be drought accompanied by locust plagues. In addition to supporting our own troops here, we also need to make preparations to relieve the victims of disasters in these places. Not only that, I received a letter from my brother a few days ago, saying that there is no snowfall in the Guanzhong area. It was also a disaster year over there. So, our burden is heavy."

Glancing at the silent Zhao Jin, Chen Can shook his head helplessly: "Letter to Jian Wushuang and Mi Boyao in Chengdu. Before next year's spring plowing starts, let them find a way to get another 500 million shi of grain into Hanzhong and Wudu. The warehouse. After that, all the soldiers and civilians will return to the fields and go to the fields for spring farming. We must make preparations to use the power of Yizhou to support Yongliang for one to two years."

"No! This subordinate will do it right away."

"In addition, I also wrote to the two generals Wu and Lai to explain the situation here. Xiping is the end of the western front of this war. After taking Xiping, you can no longer go forward. Zhangye and Dunhuang in the west What, a letter to warn the local officials is enough."

"promise!"

After watching Zhao Qian leave, Chen Can pondered for a while, sat down, and began to write a letter to Guan Yi: "Brother sees the letter, but today's battle situation of our army has been decided in Longxi, remote control of Liangzhou. However, because The national strength of my big man is still insufficient, so my younger brother manages the logistics of the whole army. I feel quite scared and like walking on thin ice. Since the beginning of the war, more than [-]% of the tens of millions of stored food have been consumed... Looking at the situation in Longxi today, the catastrophe next year It seems to be foreseeable. Therefore, it is necessary to plan ahead of time. My brother, can we spread the planting of potatoes in Yizhou and Longxi next year? If this is done, the outflow of good seeds is inevitable, but it can solve the predicament of the famine in Yongliang. Brother Just a little bit of insight, please give me some pointers..."

(End of this chapter)