I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 444: Strategy with Sima Division
In fact, attacking Xuzhou and plotting Hefei is a standard way of attacking in the east and attacking in the west.

But the conspiracy at the strategic level never completely conceals the enemy.

On a battlefield spanning hundreds of miles, it is impossible to completely deceive the enemy.

The enemy is neither blind nor stupid.

Therefore, the most important thing about a conspiracy at the strategic level is execution, not secrecy.

For example, Wang Ling's attack on the Eastern Front was overwhelming and shocked the entire southeast. There was no such thing as secrecy.

Even Master Sima could see Li Heng's true purpose at a glance, and Yang Hu could also analyze it.

But what’s the use of analyzing it?

Li Heng has an elite team to execute at the tactical level.

This execution well supports the implementation of this strategy.

Judging from the marching speed of the ancient infantry regiments, the large regiments dispatched by the Wei Army this time can arrive in Pengcheng one after another on June 17.

Ruxuwu is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it is a local battlefield after all. If a war breaks out here, it will be a tactical matter.

At this time, Wei Jun's whereabouts could be easily detected.

As long as a scout is not blind, he can see that on the road from Shouchun to Pengcheng, Wei troops lined up in a long queue, like dozens of long dragons winding across the plains.

Shouchun also left 10,000 yuan.

This powerful iron army only increases the probability of strategic success.

Wherever it passed, the people gave way.

Of course, there is no guarantee of victory as soon as troops are sent out.

The occurrence and outcome of almost everything in this world are essentially probabilities.

On the tenth day of the sixth lunar month, a large number of Wei troops marched north from Yangzhou to Xuzhou.

As for how many troops Sima Division dispatched in total, Li Heng gave an estimate.

Now that the strategic level has been solved, that is, a large number of Wei army's resources have been forcibly dispatched to Xuzhou, the tactical level problem of Ruxuwu will be solved.

The only sign of the success of this strategy is that the Qingzhou reinforcements were defeated.

The straight-line distance from Shouchun to Pengcheng is 350 miles, and the actual distance is about 400 miles.

Of course, the manpower dispatched from Hefei will be delayed by about three days.

According to Wang Ling's estimate of Cao Wei's total strength of 90,000 troops in Yangzhou, Sima Division may have mobilized 70,000 troops to Xuzhou.

As for Sima Division's surprise attack on the Han army in Pengcheng, they achieved a tactical victory, but they could not change the overall situation of the two states.

Li Heng believed that in Hefei, Sima Shi could escape at most 10,000 horses, 6,000 in Hefei and 4,000 in Ruxuwu.

At the moment when the Qingzhou reinforcements collapsed, the Han army had already taken the full initiative in the southeastern battlefield, including against Hefei.

Elite infantry, a large number of cavalry, the pace is firm and steady, and the momentum is huge.

There are also countless baggage troops to transport large amounts of grain and grass.

Wang Ling has 50,000 yuan in his hands. Since he has mobilized Yangzhou's resources, he does not dare to split it equally between both ends, otherwise neither end may be able to defend it.

After all, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Including the 30,000 Wei troops in Pengcheng, Sima Division could mobilize a total of 100,000 Wei troops on the Xuzhou battlefield.

This is not an imaginary number, but a real number.

Moreover, the military strength of Cao Wei Yangzhou's troops was second only to that of the Guanzhong Army.

In addition, with a famous general like Guan Qiujian as the commander-in-chief, it would be difficult for Wang Ling to walk sideways in Xuzhou like before.

However, Li Heng thinks the problem is not big.

Now that the matter has come to an end, he doesn’t need Xuzhou. It’s hard to defend Xuzhou even if it’s captured.

The best thing now is to win Hefei!

What Sun Quan couldn't do, he had to do. On the tenth day of June, Zhuge Ke, who was preparing to fight against his old rival Wen Qin in Lu'an, suddenly received an order from Li Heng, ordering him to go to Hefei immediately.

When Wen Qin heard that Zhuge Ke was coming, he had already prepared a large army to welcome Zhuge Ke at any time.

Unexpectedly, early in the morning of June 11, the Han army camp was found to be empty.

On June 12, Wen Qin received the scout's report, and the Han army marched towards Hefei.

He did not pursue.

The reason why he did not pursue pursuit is also very clear. There are two main points:

1. He could not confirm whether it was Zhuge Ke's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

2. If Zhuge Ke goes to attack Hefei in Huainan, what does it have to do with Lujiang?

In order to fulfill his duties, he wrote to Yangzhou Governor Yangdan who stayed in Shouchun to report the whereabouts of the Han army, and then continued to station in Lu'an.

Wen Qin: You play with yours, and I'll guard mine. Anyway, General Wei and Sima Shi are in charge.

Hefei is located 160 miles due east of Lu'an and can be reached in three days.

Shouchun is located two hundred miles northeast of Lu'an, and can be reached by horseback in one day and one night.

On the evening of June 13, when Yang Dan in Shouchun had just received Wen Qin's letter, Zhuge Ke's troops had already arrived in Hefei.

Upon learning that the Han army was approaching the city, everyone in Hefei immediately became nervous and put into defensive posture.

But Zhuge Ke did not attack the city. Instead, he blocked the Hefei ferry and cut off the supply from Hefei to Ruxukou.

Not only that, on June 14, Zhuge Ke also intercepted some ships at the ferry and directly cut off the section from Feishui to Shishui.

The Hefei guard named Zhang Te realized the seriousness of the problem after learning about Zhuge Ke's behavior.

This is equivalent to cutting off the supply line between Hefei and Ruxuwu.

Zhang Te sent 3,000 troops out of the city that day, but they were defeated by Zhuge Ke and fled back to the city.

Zhang Te immediately began to report the problem to Shouchun.

On June 15, Yangdan in Shouchun had not slept well for two days. After learning about the situation in Hefei, he became even more anxious.

Now Shouchun definitely didn't have extra troops for reinforcements. He could only bite the bullet and write a letter to Zhang Te, asking Zhang Te to defend Hefei.

On the evening of June 16, Zhang Te received a letter from Yang Dan. He could only guard Hefei helplessly, watching from the top of the city as the Han army cut off the river.

Also at this time, Shouchun's Wei army had arrived in Pengcheng one after another.

Pengcheng's military strength quickly increased.

Sima Division began to attack Zhang Ling in Lu County.

Although Yang Dan kept writing letters telling Sima Division about the serious situation in Hefei, Sima Division was still calm and calm on the battlefield in Xuzhou, with a posture of having the overall situation under his control.

This allowed Cao Wei's generals to maintain a very stable state, and even Guanqiu Jian had to admire Sima Shi's ability to control the overall situation.

Although I was half in the situation, Master Sima just pretended to have the advantage over me.

So after the Wei army arrived in Xuzhou, their morale soared, and even the Wei army in Pengcheng became in high spirits.

On June 20, Wang Ling reported on the latest situation in Xuzhou.

Li Heng, who had gathered an army and blocked the Ruxukou, clearly replied to Wang Ling: It was a great achievement to hold off the Xuzhou battlefield.

In the letter, he made it clear that Wang Ling was not responsible for the Battle of Pengcheng.

He also said that he would give generous compensation to the soldiers who died in Pengcheng.

What Li Heng was most worried about was that Wang Ling had played too smoothly before, but after being suddenly defeated by Sima Shi, he was unconvinced and wanted to continue fighting.

This is quite dangerous.

At this time, it is time to test the determination of the top leadership.

(End of this chapter)