I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 420 The Battle between Han, Wei and Jianghuai
"Is it too much to add 20,000 troops?" Gao Rou asked doubtfully.

You know, Hefei was just a small town at this time, and the people around Hefei were depleted.

Ruxuwu is at Ruxushuikou.

If Ruxuwu is in the hands of Sun Quan, Jianye south of the Yangtze River will be Ruxuwu's logistical support.

If Ruxuwu is in the hands of Cao Wei, Huainan County and Lujiang County north of the Yangtze River will be Ruxuwu's logistical support.

However, in order to defend Sun Quan from going north, Cao Cao built strong walls in Huainan to clear the country. During Cao Rui's period, the military center of Yangzhou was transferred to Shouchun.

Hefei may sound very fat, but in fact, it is already malnourished and thin.

How much food is needed to station an army of 20,000 men for a year?
What he ate in his stomach was at least 80,000 dan. Taking into account the losses, the bottom line was 200,000 dan.

What is the concept of two hundred thousand stones?
Based on the annual output of one acre of land in Huainan, which is one stone, it would take 200,000 acres of land to be cultivated for one year.

Two hundred thousand acres of land requires 5,000 people. If one household has two people, 2,500 households are needed.

There are approximately 15,000 people in 2,500 households.

During the Three Kingdoms period, a county had thousands of people, and a large county could have as many as 10,000 people.

Based on this rough calculation, people from at least three counties would be required to cultivate the land and not eat or drink to support this army.

Of course, Cao Wei now has a farming system and a little bit of a military system.

Not counting people, but counting land, it would take several counties to come up with 200,000 acres of land.

If we make a more rigorous calculation, I am afraid that it will take more than ten counties to support it through a combination of farming and grain transportation from the official rear.

Therefore, in ancient times, ten thousand soldiers and horses were already a large army.

Not to mention taking it out to fight, taking it out for fun, and ensuring that it is not brought back in a mess requires a certain level of skill.

If we say that stationing 20,000 troops and horses in other places is not a big problem for Cao Wei's military system, but stationing 20,000 troops in Ruxuwu is indeed a bit difficult.

But Sima Yi had a reason to stay.

He said: "Ruxuwu is related to our move south. It is a conflict between the two sides. If it is with me, we can go south to unify China within ten years. If it is with Li Jian, we will have to wait for at least another twenty years."

"Furthermore, there is a shipyard built by Sun Quan in Ruxuwu. If we get it, we can build a large navy on the Yangtze River, which will definitely make the Shu army uneasy."

"But now that Li Jian has just obtained Jianye, his footing is unstable. It is the time when our army is in full swing." Sima Yi's mood calmed down obviously.

"We can think of the current situation, and Li Jian must have thought of it. He must have started to build up troops and prepare to storm Ruxuwu."

Having said this, Sima Yi looked at Master Sima and said, "Ziyuan, you have to go there in person to control the overall situation."

"Here!"

On March 13, Du Yu's 10,000 troops arrived near Ruxuwu and stationed on the Yangtze River.

At this time, Cao Wei had three thousand soldiers and horses in Ruxuwu.

Since Ruxuwu was easy to defend and difficult to attack, Du Yu did not attack rashly, and stated to Li Heng the intelligence he had detected near Ruxuwu in the past few days.

The intelligence was not complicated. It was just that the Wei army had occupied Ruxuwu, and some of the Wei army had begun to train on the warships before Wu army.

Du Yu could not find out the specific number of people in a short period of time.

Li Heng's reply to Du Yu was also very simple: beat the drum but don't fight.

On March 15, Du Yu began to make superficial efforts on the surface of the Yangtze River.

He first let ten large ships approach Ruxukou, and then ordered people to beat drums on the ships. The sound of the drums shocked the surrounding areas.

The leader of the Wei army was Le Wei, who had followed Sima Yi in Guanzhong to fight against the Han. Le Wei received the news and did not dare to be careless. He took precautions while writing a report to Shouchun.

In order to make the Wei army think that the Han army was really preparing to attack Ruxukou, Du Yu ordered ten large ships to approach Ruxukou on March 16 and used trebuchets to throw stones at the Wei army on the shore. And Du Yu began to spread rumors in nearby counties and villages that Wang Shi was about to recapture Ruxuwu at all costs.

Under Du Yu's operation, the Wei army near Ruxuwu could not eat or sleep well. They stared at the river with wide eyes every day to see when the Han army would attack.

It has to be said that the situation in Ruxukou area quickly became tense.

Also on this day, Sima Yi's urgent report was sent to Shouchun. He gave Guanqiu Jianxin instructions: he must go to Ruxuwu to increase his troops to 20,000! Defend Ruxuwu at all costs!

After receiving the order, Guanqiu Jian began to speed up the mobilization of the elite Wei army.

After Li Heng sent troops to launch a lightning raid on Jianye, the situation in the world changed suddenly and the Three Kingdoms was broken.

The prelude to the confrontation between the North and the South was kicked off.

The Wei army, which originally mobilized multiple armies to go south to the Yangtze River with the purpose of deterring the Han army, began to make strategic adjustments after the Wu Kingdom was destroyed.

Seizing Ruxuwu became Sima Yi's first step in making overall strategic adjustments.

In fact, both sides knew that behind the seizure of Ruxuwu was the strategic location of Hefei.

Since ancient times, when governing by drawing rivers, there has been a saying that if you defend the river, you must defend the Huaihe River. Whether it was Sun Quan in the past or Ji Han now, Hefei must be taken.

To strangle Ji Han to death, Sima Yi must prevent Ji Han from settling in Huainan.

With Ruxuwu as the center, the actual war to seize Hefei was almost about to break out.

However, both sides are now deploying troops and deploying resources according to the other side's possible tactics.

March 18th was the twentieth day after the fall of Wu.

The spring breeze caresses the fertile Chengdu plain, farmers in the countryside are working tirelessly, and the sound of spinning in the workshops is endless.

The muddy road in the past has been paved with a layer of cement, and there is an endless stream of caravans.

In the eighth year of Li Heng's unremitting efforts to promote commerce, Chengdu and Chongqing have become the commercial centers of the southwest.

It is not only a manufacturing center but also a consumption center.

After many reforms such as land reform, the New Business Deal, and successive victories in foreign wars, the market has expanded unprecedentedly, and the wealth of upstream bureaucratic capital has skyrocketed.

The scholar class located in the middle of the industrial chain also reaped dividends from this external territorial expansion.

As for the workers in the workshops, they have also become a class with stable income in the city.

Even thanks to the unprecedented increase in money, farmers' excess grain was able to be sold quickly.

What followed was unprecedented development of the entertainment industry.

Obviously, the prosperity of Chengdu at this time has surpassed that of Luoyang.

However, during this period, Chengdu was debating an issue: moving the capital to Chang'an!

For this reason, Chengdu was divided into two factions.

One faction insisted on moving the capital to Chang'an.

The reason is that Chang'an was the capital of the former Han Dynasty and the companion capital of the later Han Dynasty.

To put it simply and concisely, Chang'an was the capital of the Han Dynasty and the capital city where Emperor Taizu Gao ruled the world.

One group believed that the capital could not be moved to Chang'an.

The reason is also very good. After many years of war, Chang'an has long been dilapidated. Not to mention wealth, even the basic population cannot support the construction of the capital, and the Wei army is eyeing Tongguan.

How can the emperor go near the border?

(End of this chapter)