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Since Liu Jing's attack on Hefei several times failed, he stopped all attacks on Hefei and instead adopted a confrontation strategy. To be precise, he used Hefei as bait to hold Shouchun's 100,000 Cao's army to engage in a protracted battle supported by national strength.

The most favorable side of the Han army was that they were backed by the Yangtze River and used the Yangtze River to transport grain. The grain transportation cost was small. Not only did they transport grain from Jingzhou, but even grain as far as Bashu could be transported to Hefei through the Yangtze River.

A large cargo ship can transport up to thousands of stones of grain in just ten ship workers. On the contrary, Cao's army's grain was transported from Jizhou, Bingzhou, Xuzhou and Yuzhou to Shouchun, mostly by land transportation, which is inefficient.

First, hundreds of thousands of people need to be recruited. Each person can only transport two stones of food at most, and half of it will be consumed. When ten thousand stones of food are transported to Shouchun, only 500,000 stones are left.

This is also why Cao Cao had to build a canal from Shouchun to Hefei, hoping to reduce the loss of grain transportation through water transportation.

But the soldiers really consumed food. Usually, the soldiers had a limited amount of food. Each soldier could only receive one liter of food every day, and most of them could only eat half full. However, soldiers during the war had to eat enough. Everyone knew that to make soldiers work hard, they had to eat enough.

Due to the general lack of oil and water, and the large amount of activity, the soldiers have a lot of appetite. Each person consumes at least two liters of rice every day, which is six dou of rice per month. Including mold and rat insect loss, 150,000 soldiers consume nearly 100,000 stones of food in a month. Cao's army had accumulated nearly 500,000 stones of food in preparation for Hefei, which could last for half a year according to normal consumption.

But in fact, the grain distribution of Cao's army was unbalanced. He hoarded 100,000 shi of grain in Hefei City and supported 100,000 shi of grain in Jiangdong. In fact, only 100,000 shi of grain were left in Shouchun.

The food in Hefei City can support the defenders for one year, but the food in Shouchun is far from enough. In just two months, the food in Shouchun is almost exhausted.

This is also the reason why Cao Cao ordered Cao Pi to prepare 100,000 grain as soon as possible. But even if 100,000 stones of grain are prepared, except for consumption, the maximum number of transport to the military camp is only 200,000 stones. How long can the 200,000 stones of grain last?

What's more, Cao Pi raised less than 100,000 stones of grain at all, only 200,000 stones of grain from Xuchang and Xuzhou. After transporting it to the military camp, only 150,000 stones were left.

This is how war consumes national strength. Without strong national strength as a backing, no one can support a major battle that lasts several months or even half a year.

It was mid-September, and the grain transported from Xuchang and Xuzhou arrived in Shouchun one after another, which finally saved the 80,000 Cao troops in Shouchun from worrying about food cuts.

At this time, Cao Pi also arrived in Shouchun and persuaded his father to return to Yedu to recuperate. Cao Cao's condition had lasted for several months, and the war in Hefei was delayed for a long time. In addition, the Han army sent troops from all sides, which put huge pressure on Cao Cao, which had just improved, aggravated his condition again.

Unlike Cao Pi's imagination, although Cao Zhi came to Shouchun to visit his father's condition, Cao Cao did not give him any opportunity to command troops. After staying in Shouchun for ten days, Cao Cao sent Cao Zhi back to Xuchang.

In Shouchun Palace, Cao Pi sat in front of his father's sickbed and told his father about Xun You's suggestions. Cao Cao was very weak, but his mind was very clear. He nodded and said, "Xun You is a rare talent. Only Guo Jia and Jia Xu can compete with him. His suggestions are very pertinent, but some things are not as simple as he thought."

"What does father mean?"

"I mean the Han army sent troops to Bingzhou. Although they had withdrawn, I got the news that Hedong County has basically become an empty county, and its population has been abducted by the Han army. There are less than a thousand people left in Hedong County. Half of the population of Shangdang County was also abducted, and the food was also harvested by the Han army. The city is empty, thousands of miles of Chiye, Pier, we have suffered heavy losses."

Cao Pi nodded silently. He knew all these things. He wanted to hide them from his father, but he didn't expect his father to know them too. At this time, Cao Cao smiled and said, "But you were not fooled, did not add troops to Luoyang and Yuan, nor did you transport money and food, which made Liu Jing's plan to expand the situation of the war fail. This made me very pleased. Sometimes things suddenly come and make people feel busy. But as long as you deal with them calmly, don't be easily influenced by emergencies, you will find that many things will disappear by themselves. This is the case with the Han army's troops in the Central Plains this time, it's just a bluff."

After a moment of silence, Cao Pi asked carefully: "What is the dealings of my father towards the Xianbei people?"

Cao Cao sneered: "Transfer pig iron and weapons to the grassland nations is the stupidest thing. I hope you don't ask me for advice in the future. You are the world and should have the minimum political mind. Once the Xianbei people become strong, they will be a major problem in the Central Plains. Do you understand?"

Cao Cao looked at his son with a serious look. Cao Pi's face turned red and lowered his head and said, "The child remembers his father's teachings in his heart."

Cao Cao nodded, "Liu Jing did a good job at this point. After he conquered the Di and Qiang people, he strictly prohibited the Di and Qiang people from mining and smelting iron. All Hexi craftsmen moved inward, and even strictly prohibited merchants from selling pig iron, tinder oil and other strategic materials to Hexi and the grassland. Violators are death sentences. Pier, these are principles, both Liu Jing and we must follow."

"Boy remembered it."

After a moment of silence, Cao Pi asked again: "Father is going to confront Liu Jing like this."

Cao Cao smiled bitterly and said, "What should I do? I can't give up Hefei. He refuses to withdraw his troops. Would he let me withdraw his troops?"

"But it is not a solution to drag on this. Can we fight as soon as possible and cooperate with the army in Hefei city and annihilate the Han army at the city."

Cao Cao shook his head gently, "We only have 100,000 troops, but the Han army has 150,000 troops. Not to mention whether we can win, even if we have the best combat power, Liu Jing is willing to fight with us, our army is over. He retreated from the water, and even took the detour to the north to attack Shouchun, burning our food in a fire. Pier and Liu Jing are in battle, and we cannot be careless because of cunning."

Cao Pi couldn't speak for a long time. Although his father's words made sense, they could not solve the Hefei problem. Cao Pi suddenly understood, but his father didn't know what to do.

Cao Cao closed his eyes, and after a while, he slowly said: "The Han army used a confrontation strategy, and it would be meaningless to stay in Shouchun. I will return to Yedu, so you will be in charge of Shouchun. Don't act rashly, listen to the advice of Junshu Cheng."

"Boy understand."

"And Sun Quan's side"

Cao Cao also reminded Cao Pi, "Two months ago, I put pressure on Sun Quan, so that he must cooperate with our army's actions. Recently, I received news that Sun Quan had already started the action a month ago. My son should pay close attention. Once Sun Quan succeeds, the battle in Hefei will be reversed."

Cao Pi hurriedly asked: "What will happen to the Jiangdong Army?"

Cao Cao smiled, "It is called the strategy of removing firewood from the cauldron."

He whispered a few words to Cao Pi. Cao Pi then realized and nodded, "I know, and I will pay close attention to the actions of the Jiangdong Army. Once the Han army withdraws, the Han will launch a large-scale counterattack."

"No"

Cao Cao's face changed drastically, and he grabbed Er's hand, "If you counterattack, you will fall into Liu Jing's trap. He will use the tricks and lead you to the trap. You must not pursue him, so let them withdraw."

Cao Pi was scared and sweated coldly, nodding repeatedly, "I remember it."

Cao Cao stared at him for a while, but still felt worried, and said, "You must discuss anything with Military Advisor Cheng. Without Military Advisor Cheng's consent, you must not act without permission."

Cao Cao immediately summoned Cheng Yu and repeatedly told him to assist Cao Pi in Shouchun. He also ordered the generals to obey orders and arrange many military affairs. Cao Cao set off for Shouchun.

Although many Cao army soldiers did not know about Cao Cao's departure from Shouchun, the Han army discovered the matter at the first time.

In the Han army camp, Pang Tong hurried to Liu Jing's tent and asked a few guards: "Your Highness can be here."

"Your Highness is here, and you are discussing military affairs with General Gan."

"Please report to me, I have something to ask for your Highness."

The guards quickly stepped into the big tent. In the big tent, Liu Jingzheng and Gan Ning discussed the disappearance of the cargo ship in front of the sand table. This is a recent incident. Some cargo ships always disappear for no reason on the river surface, which aroused Liu Jing's vigilance.

Due to the outbreak of the war, the Yangtze River has banned merchant ships and passenger ships from sailing, and only military cargo ships and official ships can sail on the Yangtze River.

The Han army's logistics fleet usually sailed in groups, with several ships connected in a row, and there would definitely be warship guards in a distance. But even so, every time the fleet arrived at its destination, it would always find one or two less ships, which had happened in a row, but it did not know where the ship was missing.

Although the loss was not large, this kind of thing itself threatened the logistics transportation of the Han army. Liu Jing decided to let Gan Ning come forward in person to solve this hidden danger.

Liu Jing said earnestly to Gan Ning: "Major Generals become troubles. Once the logistics transportation is not smooth, it will affect the entire battle situation. General Gan, this matter will be left to you."

Gan Ning clasped his fists and said, "Please rest assured that Bei Yi will sail with the ship in person. Within one month, find the cause and solve the hidden dangers."

At this time, the guards reported at the door of the tent: "Report to Your Highness, Military Advisor Pang has something to ask for a meeting."

Liu Jing nodded, "Please come in."

After a moment, Pang Tong walked into the tent and quickly stepped forward to salute, "I'm going to see Your Highness."

Liu Jing ended his discussion with Gan Ning and asked Pang Tong with a smile: "What is the important thing about the military advisor?"

"Your Highness, I received the news that Cao Cao had left Shouchun and returned to Yedu. Now Shouchun is under Cao Pi."

Liu Jing suddenly laughed, "It seems that his body can't hold on anymore. I thought he was going to hold on to the end with me."

Gan Ning next to him couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, I think Cao Cao wants him to take responsibility for the defeat."

Liu Jing waved his hand, "You can't say that. Cao Pi is the world after all, and his reputation is very important. If Cao Cao had this intention, it would be better to let Cao Zhang come to command. Actually, I can understand. Look, Cao Cao is now planning to various places. Cao Zhang guards Youzhou, Cao Hong guards Nanyang, Cao Ren guards Xuzhou, Cao Xiu guards Qingzhou, Xiahou Dun guards Central Plains, Xiahou Shang guards Bingzhou. They are all from his family, and military power will never be released. As for Hefei and Shouchun, there are so many troops, so Cao Cao is in charge. He really can't support it. Of course, Cao Pi will be replaced by the world. Isn't that normal?"

Gan Ning nodded, "If Your Highness didn't say it thoroughly, I wouldn't have noticed it. It seems that Cao Cao no longer trusts outsiders."

Liu Jing sneered, "Cao Cao lost his mind as a hero and became a guardian. I am afraid that even if I have no soldiers or soldiers in Guanzhong, he would not dare to peek at half a step."

Liu Jing said this with emotion. His army sent troops to Bingzhou and Luoyang, and there were only a thousand soldiers guarding Chang'an in Guanzhong. If he were Cao Cao, he would immediately send troops across the Yellow River and break into Guanzhong from the straight road. At that time, the Han army was in chaos without fighting. Unfortunately, neither Cao Cao nor Cao Pi had this idea. This shows that they had lost the intention to attack and only thought about how to save a little territory. How could such a strategy last for a long time?

At this time, Pang Tong said: "Since Shouchun has become Cao Pi's command, can we attack Shouchun and test the reality of Cao Pi?"
Chapter completed!