Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 494 488. The Battle for the Throne
The situation was just as Chang Diao had expected. Although the Han army was powerful, the encirclement was not complete due to insufficient manpower. If he had not wanted to leave before, but wanted to eat up the enemy, the Han army would definitely not have been able to keep him if he wanted to leave.

As the Wei army slowly escaped from the three-sided siege from the northwest, the situation was exactly as Chang Diao had imagined. The pursuing Han army could only fight with him locally in the southeast, and there was no longer a three-sided siege. This situation posed no threat to Chang Diao.

"Zhuge Qian, lead three thousand brothers to cover my retreat, and let the army return to Hefei first. The Han army is powerful, so we should take the long view."

Chang Diao waved the sword in his hand and issued the latest order. Now he definitely couldn't continue to fight. His troops were hit hard by the Han army and were a little confused. He had to regroup the troops and restore morale before he could do anything. If he stayed and continued to fight the Han army to death, he would fall into the trap of the Han army.

"Yes, General!"

Zhuge Qian felt relieved, knowing that even he could handle this situation, so he immediately went to pass on the order as ordered by Chang Diao.

Generals Chang Diao and Zhuge Qian personally led a team of troops to stop the Han army's advance, fighting and retreating, allowing the Wei army to return to Hefei safely.

Although the Han army defeated this rearguard unit, they were helpless as none of the three generals Ding Feng were known for their bravery. Therefore, they could not stop Chang Diao and Zhuge Qian and could only watch them escape the battlefield with the remaining troops.

The two sides fought a small battle, then stopped fighting and returned to their respective armies to count their losses without mentioning them.

"General Chang, most of the defeated soldiers have returned. Our army lost 4,000 this time, most of whom were the rear guards."

Zhuge Qian soon came to Chang Diao with the casualty statistics. The loss was not too great, but it was not small either. One fifth of the 20,000 people in Hefei were gone.

"Well, I take full responsibility for this defeat. I didn't expect the Han army to be so powerful, and their tactics are completely different from those of the Eastern Wu."

Chang Diao nodded solemnly. In the past, the tactics of the Eastern Wu were often relatively simple. They either relied on the advantages of the navy to gallop across rivers and lakes, or they collapsed on land. The combination of the two, which was quite skillful, was something Chang Diao had never heard of or seen before.

However, after being beaten by the Han army, Chang Diao learned a lesson and his opinion of the Han army is definitely not comparable to that of the Wu army before.

The Han army also suffered a lot of losses, with nearly two thousand casualties. Although the Wei army was ambushed, the quality of its soldiers was there. In addition, although the Yangzhou army had only been trained for two or three years, it was still a bit difficult for them to catch up with the level of the Jingzhou army.

Therefore, although the Han army won a small victory this time, it was only a small victory. It neither caused any serious damage to the Wei army nor took advantage of the situation to kill the generals and capture the city. Apart from boosting the morale of the Yangzhou army, there was actually no actual result to speak of.

As for the few thousand Wei soldiers killed and wounded, it was like a drop in the bucket for the Wei army and was not particularly critical.

Both sides reported their situation to the higher authorities, and both sides were cautious about the next step. The Han army's current strength was definitely not enough to attack Hefei. They were originally a detachment for exploration, and the fact that they could fight a battle with Cao Wei was due to Cao Wei's underestimation of the enemy. It would be a pipe dream to attack Hefei again. Chang Diao also ordered his men to report the Han army's impressive combat power to Cao Xiu as soon as possible, so that Cao Xiu could make the decision.

Cao Xiu had a headache after receiving Chang Diao's report. The available troops in Hefei and Shouchun were only 40,000, and half of the troops in Huainan were in Guangling. Guangling and Jianye were across the river, and it was also an excellent landing place, so Cao Xiu could not relax the defense there.

Now Chang Diao is ambitious and this small defeat, although not critical, has undoubtedly dampened the morale of the Wei army in Hefei. There are only 20,000 troops in Shouchun, so how can he act rashly?
Cao Xiu also knew that the Han army was no longer what it used to be. The country had a standing force of 300,000 to 500,000 troops, but now there were only 10,000. Who knew what the Han army was planning?
"Send a message to Chang Diao, telling him not to leave the city to fight again. It will be a great achievement if he can defend Hefei City honestly. Ask him to find out what other troops in Jiangdong are doing. The Han army has nearly 200,000 troops in Jing and Yangzhou. It is impossible that they have not taken any action at all."

Cao Xiu thought about it and decided to defend. In the past, the 100,000-strong army of the Eastern Wu attacked in a mighty manner, but was eventually defeated at the gates of Hefei. Although the Han army is stronger than the Eastern Wu, it is still possible to resist the Han army.

Moreover, Cao Xiu believed that if the main force of the Han army really intended to attack Hefei, then Nanyang would definitely not stand idly by.

However, there was one thing that made Cao Xiu a little worried, that was that several messengers who had been sent to Luoyang before had not returned, as if they had disappeared into the sea, and no one knew what had happened in Luoyang.

Luoyang, the political center of Cao Wei, has now become an unfathomable political vortex. After Cao Pi was buried, the sons of the Cao family immediately drew a clear line, stood on their own side, and began to argue endlessly for the succession. Of course, the most powerful among them was Yuancheng Marquis Cao Li, after all, everyone saw that Cao Pi favored Cao Li during his lifetime.

Except for Cao Rui, the other Cao brothers were just being unreasonable and few people took them seriously.

But now Cao Rui seized the opportunity and insisted that he was only punished by Cao Pi and was reflecting on his mistakes behind closed doors. The best example was that Cao Pi called him back to Luoyang.

Cao Rui was no pushover either. Although he was neglected by Cao Pi for two years because his mother Zhen was sentenced to death, Cao Rui had always been more powerful than Cao Li before that. This is why Cao Pi finally chose Cao Rui in the original timeline. There is no doubt about his outstanding abilities.

Thanks to the Cao family's dragon-tiger dispute, the entire court was suspended. There is no way, the country cannot be without a monarch for a day, but who will be the next monarch is still unclear.

At the critical moment, Cao Li suggested that they should simply invite Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, Chen Qun and Yongqiu King Cao Zhi back, and the four of them would decide together who would be the next monarch.

Although Cao Rui didn't want to agree, he would undoubtedly appear guilty if he didn't agree, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept it.

Cao Zhen had no objection, Guanzhong was relatively stable, and he could stabilize the situation by returning to Luoyang in person; and Chen Qun was in Luoyang, so there was no need to say more. A few days later, Cao Xiu almost burst into anger when he received the news, saying, "We are fighting to the death here, and now you are inviting me to a meeting?"
Cao Xiu decisively refused and asked about the whereabouts of the messenger he had sent. As a result, he found out that because of the dispute over the throne, many affairs in Luoyang were at a standstill. When his messenger arrived in Luoyang, he could not find anyone. The Shangshu who was in charge of military affairs were nowhere to be seen, and high-ranking officials such as the Taiwei also refused visitors. In the end, they could only wait in Luoyang.

(End of this chapter)