Chapter 537. Huainan Movement
In Hefei City, Cao Xiu looked at the envoy who had returned from Luoyang with an indignant look on his face.

"Your Majesty, do you mean that we cannot send reinforcements?"

The Han army began harassing Huainan a month ago. After they fell into Zhu Huan's false surrender plan and lost for a while, they have been at a disadvantage ever since.

However, it was not too bad. Although in the end, the Wei army could only be trapped in Hefei and could no longer take the initiative to attack, it was a pipe dream for the Han army to take Hefei directly. The difference in military strength between the two sides was almost the same. Under such circumstances, the Han army could only sigh at the sight of the city.

Cao Xiu was naturally not idle either. He left the important city of Guangling and called for all the reinforcements he could think of. The county troops from all over the country, Luoyang, Wancheng...

Unfortunately, the Battle of Wancheng was at its most intense at that time. In addition, Cao Xiu had not come to Luoyang to meet the new king before, which made Cao Li somewhat unhappy. Moreover, Cao Xiu had been making a fuss for more than a month, but the Han army had not done anything substantial except losing soldiers and generals, which made Cao Li feel that Cao Xiu was deliberately exaggerating the situation.

After all, compared with the fallen Liangzhou and the already fiercely fought Wancheng, the current situation in Huainan is nothing.

You, Cao Xiu, have been calling for more than a month, but the Han army has only advanced to the city of Hefei, without any other substantial progress. Since you can't die, just bear it. Now Wancheng is at a critical moment, how can we send troops to Huainan, a place that is not a big deal.

To put it bluntly, if Wancheng is a serious problem, Huainan is a minor problem. There is no need to say much about the geographical location of Wancheng. On the other hand, if Hefei is lost, there is Shouchun. If Shouchun is lost, there is the Huai River. To the north of the Huai River, there is Runan...

Even Cao Li regretted sending reinforcements to Huainan that day. The situation in Huainan now seemed to be the best among the three attack directions of the Han army. It seemed that it had been losing, but in fact it had only returned to the old border between Wei and Wu.

On the other hand, as for Guanzhong and Nanyang, one lost Liangzhou and the area west of Liangzhou, and the other was beaten to Wancheng. Cao Li wanted to withdraw the people from Huainan.

"Grand Marshal, His Majesty said that the Han army in Huainan is weak in combat effectiveness. Now that the battle of Wancheng has reached the most critical moment, Luoyang has only sent its most elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to Wancheng. There is no more troops to support the Grand Marshal."

The messenger lowered his head and informed Cao Xiu of Luoyang's reply, which made Cao Xiu even more annoyed and he had no choice but to send the messenger away.

A few days later, the news of the defeat in Wancheng also reached Huainan, making Cao Xiu feel a little gloating.

"Grand Marshal, Wancheng was defeated and Luoyang was shaken. We are now in a stalemate with the Han army. I am afraid that your majesty will blame us..."

Jia Kui, who had led an army of 10,000 to support the army, was inevitably a little anxious at this time. After he arrived, he found that Cao Xiu had done nothing except defending Hefei and Shouchun, but from his performance, it was hard not to suspect that Cao Xiu was dawdling and stalling for time.

"Master Jia, why should you worry? The Han army is now invading the north. It is said that Zhuge Liang, the Sleeping Dragon, is leading the army in Sichuan, and the Han army commander-in-chief Feng Xi is supervising the battle in Wancheng. Now there are only some scattered surrendered generals from the Eastern Wu harassing us in Huainan. There will be absolutely no problem in the short term."

Cao Xiu was quite confident about this. Compared with his two colleagues, Cao Zhen and Man Chong, the pressure on him suddenly became the smallest.

Cao Xiu thought he could not defeat Zhuge Liang, who was full of strategies, and Feng Xi, who was full of tricks, but he could still deal with those who surrendered to the Han Dynasty from Dongwu. Of course, he had fallen into a trap before, so it didn't count.

"Grand Marshal, we are now trapped in Hefei, which has made His Majesty somewhat unhappy. Since you can hold back the Han army, I would like to ask you to allocate some troops and I will go back to the capital to support you."

Jia Kui was too lazy to comment on Cao Xiu's confidence. Now the Huainan area was stagnant. Since you, Cao Xiu, were confident that you could capture those surrendered generals from Eastern Wu, it would be better for you to return to Luoyang for support.

"Sir Jia, the Han army is now attacking fiercely, and I do not have enough troops. Why don't you plan something for me? Once we defeat the Han army, I will go to Luoyang in person to apologize and at the same time defend the capital." Cao Xiu didn't mind bragging a little, but he became anxious when he heard that Jia Kui wanted to leave, and Jia Kui also wanted to take his own troops away. How could Cao Xiu tolerate this?
Since you, Jia Kui, are capable and care so much about Luoyang, you might as well come up with some strategies for yourself and defeat the Han army in Huainan to avoid being so passive.

However, Jia Kui didn't know how to use strategy to repel the Han army. It's not that he hadn't tried before, but his plans were seen through by the enemy, who also didn't seem to be in a hurry to break the city. They just dragged him around Hefei, as if waiting for something.

Unfortunately, Cao Xiu and Jia Kui could not see through the Han army's plan. They just thought that the Han army in Huainan was holding them back and preventing them from rushing to Luoyang for assistance.

They could not see the intention of the Han army, let alone other generals. Le Chen and others were even more confused. They went out of the city to challenge several times and the two sides won and lost, as if the Wei army was putting on a show with the Han army.

However, Guangling County in the east did not think so. Guangling and Jianye were separated by only one river. Now that the Han army was approaching Jianye, it was obvious that they wanted to force their way across the river and attack the Xuzhou area.

This performance made Jiang Ji, who was guarding Guangling, feel like he was facing a powerful enemy. He did not dare to slack off at all. He patrolled the riverside day and night, set up more than a dozen watchtowers, and kept beacons on standby to prevent the Han army from crossing the river.

Needless to say, all the supplies in Guangling came from Xuzhou behind. However, Jiang Ji was so focused on Jianye that he instinctively ignored the threat from Xuzhou.

But this is also human nature. On Jiang Ji's left is Cao Xiu, and the entire Yuzhou is the heartland of the Wei army. Xuzhou has been ruled by the Wei Dynasty for many years. Unless Jiang Ji is crazy, how could he possibly guard against the enemy invading Xuzhou?

"Sir, supplies are arriving from Xuzhou."

On this day, Jiang Ji received a report from his subordinates and nodded. These supplies arrived every ten days or so, so it was time for them to arrive.

"Then let the officials of each department take a clear inventory."

Jiang Ji naturally would not personally oversee such a small matter, and let the soldiers in charge count it themselves.

But after a while, the guards became panicked again.

"Sir, it seems that we have had a conflict with the people from Xuzhou because of an accounting issue. Both sides have started fighting. We can't control the situation. Please go and deal with it yourself."

"Hmm? What's going on? Don't you know that this is a critical time for our Great Wei? Why are you still so lazy? Well, lead the way."

Jiang Ji shook his head. These people under him didn't know how to share the country's worries. They were still fighting among themselves at this time. How could he not be worried?

"You, look at this account book. It says that only 20,000 arrows and 30,000 dan of grain are needed. How come it is less when it comes to you?"

An official who was obviously from Xuzhou, was now red-faced and pointing at the details in the account book, arguing fiercely with the official from Guangling opposite him.

(End of this chapter)