The situation in the world has changed to this day, and even Zhuge Liang will no longer cling to the "Sun-Liu Alliance".
Obviously, the Han family is now the dominant one. As long as the monarchs and ministers in Soochow are not collectively crazy, it will be impossible to form an alliance with the Han family. It is inevitable that the two families will fall out.
Not to mention, Sun Quan has proven through repeated actions that in his eyes, no covenant is as important as actual benefits.
Since you, Sun Quan, have attacked Jingzhou four times, there is no reason for the Han to let go of the southern part of Yanzhou, or even Xuzhou.
To a certain extent, Sima Yi's strategy succeeded after all. Soochow has been dragged into the water by Sima Yi and used to delay the Wei Dynasty.
This is not about Sima Yi's strategy, but the general trend of the world. If you take Yanzhou, there is no reason not to take Xuzhou. When Cao Cao faced such a critical moment as the Battle of Guandu, he first pacified Xuzhou and then led his troops to Dongjun to fight with Yuan Shao. Starting a war.
Cao Cao, Xun Yu and others understood this clearly, but there was no reason why strategists at the same level could not understand this.
No matter what, Zhang Xi, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu all believed that Soochow should be attacked.
However, Pang Tong believed that he could ignore the situation of the Soochow Army in the south of Yanzhou for the time being. Now he should concentrate his forces and attack Shanyang County directly while Soochow was not ready for war. From Shanyang County Break through, enter Xuzhou, then sweep across Qingxu and surround Huainan.
Zhang Xi and Xu Shu believed that it was still necessary to deal with the threat of the Soochow Army in the south of Yanzhou first and relieve their worries. Otherwise, with Lu Xun's ability, even if he was not ready for war for a while, once the Han Dynasty attacked Shanyang County, Lu Xun would continue to attack Shanyang County. Go north to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao.
First wipe out the Soochow Army in the south of Yanzhou, compress the Soochow Army's activity space, and reduce the threat from Soochow to Yanzhou, and then consider the issue of entering Xuzhou.
As for Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang never spoke.
On the one hand, Zhuge Liang is not easy to express his position easily. After all, he is the prime minister. If he actively expresses his support for any plan, it will basically become a decision, so he must be cautious.
On the other hand, Zhuge Liang felt that he had to avoid suspicion to some extent. After all, the person guarding Langya County in Xuzhou was his own brother, Zhuge Jin, and the person occupying Shanyang County was his younger brother, Zhuge Dan.
Unlike Zhuge Qian, a "brother" who was separated by who knows how many generations, Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Dan were both serious brothers with genealogies that could be checked.
Zhuge Liang still needs to pay attention to this matter.
Another thing, Zhuge Liang was actually a little worried, so he looked at Li Yan.
"Zhengfang, how long can the court's food reserves last?" Zhuge Liang asked Li Yanfa.
Li Yan thought about it for a while, and then said, "Based on the grain storage from the last Northern Expedition, it can still last for half a year. If the Prime Minister is worried about insufficient funds, Yan can order the states to collect grain again to prepare for the war."
In this regard, Li Yan really didn't lie.
Although Li Yan in this time and space has a lot of selfishness, the big man today is not the big man supported by Zhuge Liang alone. Li Yan has not gained any reputation as a minister. He is just a capable person, but his influence in the DPRK is still the same. Limited senior officials only.
In addition, in the early years, Li Yan had been suppressed by Zhang Xi and Pang Tong, and had always been wandering in the middle and lower levels. Now he finally has the opportunity to enter the center and control the actual power of Zhongshu Province. At this time, Li Yan is serious about doing things, showing his abilities, and seeking The Li Yan who goes further is not the Li Yan in history who was fearless, full of selfishness, and attempted to separatist power.
Li Yan, who works seriously, has outstanding abilities. He is in charge of logistics and has basically made no mistakes.
As for the grain reserves, there is indeed still grain in stock.
After all, during the last Northern Expedition, Li Yan divided the food and grass collection into three batches based on the prediction that the battle would last for two years.
But who would have known that Li Yancai launched the second batch of grain and grass collection, and the battle on the front line had only been fought for less than nine months, and Yanzhou had already been captured. Now in Chang'an, the grain and grass that had been hoarded for half a year was indeed at his disposal.
Today's Han Dynasty can be regarded as a big family and a big business. This Northern Expedition is the strength of the whole country. This national power is completely different from the Han Dynasty that only had one state in history.
Therefore, the food and grass are completely enough. Even if Li Yan carries out the third conquest of food and grass as planned, the total amount of food and grass can support a one-year large-scale operation.
However, after Zhuge Liang listened to Li Yan's words, he waved his hand slightly to ask Li Yan to calm down.
To be honest, Zhuge Liang didn't want Li Yan to launch the third grain levy. Each time he levied grain, it would increase the burden on the people.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang hopes to launch a war on the basis of the existing half-year grain reserves. If considered from this perspective, then a full-scale attack on Xuzhou may not be the best choice.
Unless Pang Tong has a way, he can completely occupy Xuzhou or at least capture Xiapi County within half a year, cutting off the communication channel between Dongwu Huainan and Xuzhou.
It's just that, let's face it, Zhuge Liang is not easy to speak to avoid suspicion.
Fortunately, no one present was an idiot. Zhuge Liang took the initiative to ask for food and supplies. In addition, this guy now looked like he was constipated but didn't say anything. He seemed to understand everything.
Therefore, some words were conveyed by Xu Shu on his behalf.
Of course, Pang Tong could also observe Zhuge Liang's strangeness, and also knew Zhuge Liang's intention in asking about the share of grain and grass. Pang Tong thought for a long time, but he really couldn't think of a safer way.
It's not that Pang Tong didn't have a way to attack Xuzhou, but he couldn't think of a way that would guarantee the capture of Xuzhou within half a year.
To attack Xuzhou, you must first conquer Xiapi County. Otherwise, Soochow can completely send troops from Huainan. Whether it is to attack Yanzhou to encircle Wei and save Zhao, or to support Xiapi County from the north from Huainan, they can all defend Xiapi very well. County effect.
And Lu Xun, the Huainan general of Soochow, has become famous in recent years.
Although let's face it, among the important officials of the Han Dynasty present, only Zhang Xi had indirect experience of fighting with Lu Xun, but Zhang Xi's evaluation of Lu Xun was extremely high.
Zhang Xi was full of praise for Lu Xun's ability, thinking that he was no less than Zhou Yu. This evaluation was enough to attract Pang Tong's attention.
In these days, everyone in the world, no matter which camp they belong to, knows that Zhang Xi is the best at criticizing people in the world. Those he dislikes may not necessarily be incompetent, but those he likes must have real abilities.
Anyway, Pang Tong thought about it for a while and felt that if his opponent was Zhou Yu, he wanted to conquer the entire Xuzhou in half a year under Zhou Yu's control. It didn't seem to be that easy.
Not to mention there is a Zhuge Dan.
Also according to Zhang Xi, Zhuge Dan's political ability is only average compared to Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jin. But when it comes to military management, Zhuge Dan's ability is still very strong. At least only I'm afraid Hu Zun from Jiyin County may not be able to do better than Zhuge Dan.
With the two uncertain factors combined, even if Pang Tong believed that he could capture Xuzhou if he led his troops, it would not be that easy if he had to ensure that he could complete it within half a year.
Therefore, we can only retreat to the next best thing: wipe out the southern part of Yanzhou first, develop with peace of mind for two years, and then send troops to Xuzhou.
Now that the target has been lowered, there is no need to think about the candidate to lead the troops.
Xu Shu is the new governor of Yanzhou, and all counties under his command have garrison generals. The main force of the Northern Expedition has only withdrawn part of the Guanzhong troops. The remaining main forces of Heluo and Nanyang soldiers are still in Yanzhou to assist in the defense. There is no shortage of troops. Don't bother. Well, let Xu Shu fight with Lu Xun.
After discussing these matters, everyone dispersed and went back to their respective places.
Pang Tong continued to stay in the center and presided over the daily affairs of the government together with Li Yan. Xu Shu returned to Yanzhou to prepare for war and prepare to retake the southern part of Yanzhou. Zhuge Liang returned to Luoyang to preside over the development of people's livelihood in Heluo and Yanzhou. Zhang Xi returned to Nanjun to preside over the affairs of Jingzhou. Kou Feng returned to Dongsan County and continued to defend the place.
By the way, Meng Da stayed in Chang'an.
Hu Zun was transferred to Yanzhou, and the position of prefect Zuo Fengyi became vacant.
In this Northern Expedition, although Meng Da did not make much credit, he still deserved some credit for his hard work. Zhang Xi fulfilled his promise and recommended Meng Da as the prefect of Zuo Fengyi.
As for the title of marquis, Meng Da's little merit is not enough to be granted the title of marquis. Meng Da also knows this, but he is very satisfied to be able to leave the place of Dongsan County and come to Chang'an to serve as an official.
Not to mention, in Chang'an, with Li Yan taking care of him, with Meng Da's interpersonal skills, he is not afraid that there is no room for development, which is much better than sitting in Dongsan County, facing a stupid boss every day.
In this way, as the Han Dynasty entered the strategic rest stage, the Fifth Northern Expedition of the Han Dynasty came to an end.
(End of chapter)
