Three Kingdoms: I, Ma Su, just want to die

Chapter 652 The Han Army goes south
Time quickly came to the summer of the 21st year of Jianxing, and the rice in Yangzhou was ripe.

On the Yuzhang Plain and Danyang Plain, large fields of rice are ripe and swaying in the wind. Especially in recent years, the weather in Jiangdong has been good, and it should have been a bumper harvest.

Therefore, after watching the eastward movement of the Han army in Yangzhou and Lianghuai, Sun Quan planned to withdraw his troops to harvest the grain.

His population and size are too small, and there are only a few strong and healthy people in the country. Now he has been staying at the border all year round. If he can't withdraw, he may not even be able to grow crops properly.

However, just as Sun Quan had withdrawn some of his troops and returned to Jianye, and was preparing to gradually disband the conscripted troops, Akatsuki's scouts suddenly brought him some terrifying news.

Ma Su, who had been in charge of farming in Shouchun for most of the year and even personally led people to dig canals, had put on his armor again. More than 10,000 troops in Huainan had begun to gather, and civilians were recruited to transport the baggage.

Judging from the situation, the Han army is planning to march south during the busy farming season in Yangzhou!

Seeing this, Sun Quan's fear of being dominated by Ma Su surged up again. For a moment, the whole of Yangzhou was once again in a highly tense atmosphere, and the soldiers who had just returned home had to be urgently called back.

However, at this moment, Sun Quan still hoped that Ma Su was just bluffing, so the 30,000 Wu troops gathered in Jianye and still did not move to Ruxuwu.

After all, Ma Su wanted to spend a lot of effort on farming in Lianghuai, and naturally he also wanted to restore local production. Once the cannon sounded, it would cost thousands of taels of gold, and a hundred thousand people would cost thousands of gold a day. Once the war started, the production in Lianghuai would inevitably be frustrated, which would not be conducive to farming.

However, Ma Su soon shattered Sun Quan's last hope with practical actions.

In half a month, the Han army quickly assembled 30,000 troops and marched south from Hefei. The logistics went straight to Shouchun, and at the same time, the entire Yuzhou provided blood transfusion to Lianghuai.

Ma Su's plan is very clear. After all, I occupy the entire Central Plains. The current size is not comparable to the past. With your limited manpower in Dongwu, you still want to fight with me?
While the Han army was marching southward, Ma Su also wrote a special letter and sent it to Jianye.

Ma Su's letter made Sun Quan extremely nervous. After all, since the complete split between Han and Wu, the two sides had not communicated with each other for five years.

In particular, all of Ma Su's letters were extremely destructive, and Sun Quan did not want to be killed within two years of becoming the Emperor of Wu. So after Ma Su's letters were delivered, Sun Quan specifically ordered a close official to open them for him.

Fortunately, compared with the previous ones, Ma Su's letter this time was quite standard. There was nothing fancy about it, but just a short paragraph written with ink.

"Recently, I have been ordered to punish the criminals. With my banners pointing eastward, Cao Fang surrendered. Now I have 800,000 naval forces and am about to meet you, General, to hunt in Wu!"

Such familiar words made Sun Quan's face change suddenly. As an old fox, he naturally understood what Ma Su meant.

Arrogance! Total arrogance!

In history, Cao Cao marched south with such a speech, shocking the whole Yangzhou with great momentum. That was the most dangerous moment for Yangzhou, and also a rare highlight in Sun Quan's life.

It was a fire at Chibi that laid the foundation for his hegemony over the past few decades. In a sense, this speech should have provided his family with higher morale.

But Ma Su was so confident that he used almost the same words to scare Sun Quan. This was no longer a deterrent, but his arrogance towards Sun Quan was already beyond words.

Although it was not the same time or the same place, the words were the same. Sun Quan, the false emperor of Jiangdong, can you fight the Red Cliff again this time? "Ma Youchang! How dare you despise me so much!" A cold light flashed in Sun Quan's eyes, but it was quickly suppressed by reason.

Xiao Shi had already found out that this time Ma Su had only dispatched 30,000 men. Although the 70,000 soldiers stationed in Lianghuai had begun to gather, they had not yet been dispatched.

But even so, Sun Quan knew that this number of people was not enough for his Eastern Wu. In fact, Ma Su might have brought too many people, and only 20,000 would be enough.

In short, no matter how much Ma Su despised him, Sun Quan had to endure it. Not only that, he could also endure the pain in his heart and send the main force to Ruxuwu again.

Ruxuwu was the last stronghold of the Eastern Wu in Jiangbei and the guarantee of Jianye's safety. No matter what, Sun Quan could not let this place be taken away by the Han army.

So, after Ma Su led his troops south and issued a provocative speech, Sun Quan also began to send reinforcements to Ruxuwu. Fifty thousand Wu troops entered Ruxuwu and held on there.

Lu Kang, the new commander-in-chief of Wu, was also very aware of the gap between the two sides, so he quickly rejected Zhuge Ke's suggestion to counterattack. Despite the advantage in manpower, tens of thousands of Wu troops insisted on defending the city.

The Han army was unstoppable all the way, advancing straight from Hefei to Ruxuwu, as if... no, it was like entering an uninhabited area!
The 300-li road between Hefei and Ruxuwu was completely uninhabited. The counties along the way had some people in them at the beginning of the confrontation between the north and the south, but as the war progressed, they had already become a wasteland.

The reason why Ma Su only brought 30,000 men with him on his journey southwards was also because of logistical problems. There were no civilians to recruit along the way, and no county town to rely on. The Han army's food and fodder had to be transported directly from Hefei to the front line, which put a huge pressure on them.

If the Han Dynasty had not already controlled the Central Plains and had not become much more wealthy, Ma Su would definitely not have been willing to waste it like this.

However, even with only 30,000 men, the logistical pressure was still not small. By the time they arrived at Ruxuwu, the Han army had lost at least one-third of the food and fodder it transported from the rear.

This further strengthened Ma Su's idea that he must rebuild a frontier fortress south of Hefei at all costs.

As the Han army approached Ruxu Fort, Ma Su also noticed the vigilance of the Eastern Wu troops. However, to Ma Su's surprise, he actually saw Sun Quan's flag in Ruxu Fort.

It’s only been a few years since the last time he was beaten, and Sun Quan still dares to show up?
Ma Su was a little surprised for a moment. After hesitating for a while, he immediately took Ma Zhong and several cavalrymen out of the camp and headed straight for Ruxu Fort.

"Han general Ma Su, please invite the criminal Sun Quan from Jiangdong to come and have a talk!" Ma Su arrived at the foot of the city and shouted to the Wu army on the top of the city.

Although Ma Su only brought a few riders, he still caused a commotion throughout the Wu Kingdom. Lu Kang and Zhuge Ke quickly reported to Sun Quan and asked what to do.

"Ma Su comes alone again?" Sun Quan frowned and thought of the shadow he had in Gong'an before.

But he was the King of Wu of Wei after all. Even though he was a coward, he still chose to face it head-on for the sake of morale.

"Follow me to the top of the city wall and take a look! I want to know what this kid from Yicheng wants to say!"

(End of this chapter)