Chapter 633: Han Army Marches South

According to the report from the Military Affairs Department, nearly 100,000 Wei troops in Huainan have gathered in Shouchun. Just from the map, Ma Su can basically determine their retreat direction.

Now Yanzhou has been basically cut off by the Han army, and the entire south has been completely cut off. If the Huainan Wei army wants to retreat, they can only go around Xuzhou and withdraw to Hebei from Langya.

However, there is more than one way to withdraw from Shouchun to Xuzhou and then return north. Now that the main force of the Han army has fought in Yanzhou, it is naturally unable to cut off all roads.

Ma Su repeatedly studied the map and kept drifting between Xuzhou and Huainan. After thinking over and over again, Ma Su suddenly narrowed his eyes and remembered something.

"Military Affairs Department! Go and find out which direction Sima Yi retreated after retreating from Linqiu!"

Soon, the person in charge of the Military Affairs Department came back to report to Ma Su. Sima Yi did not withdraw to Hebei as usual, but quickly withdrew eastward with his troops and had already arrived in Lu.

"Run to Lu? It seems that the Huainan Wei army is planning to return north from the East China Sea!" Ma Su nodded slightly, and soon saw through the deployment of the Wei army from Sima Yi's movements.

From Lu to the east, it is the Xuzhou Donghai State in the Central Plains. From Donghai State to the north, there is a waterway to borrow power, and the troops retreat quickly, which is indeed the most ideal route for the army to march.

This Sima Yi is indeed insidious, intending to rely on the terrain of Yanzhou to delay him here, giving the Huainan Wei army time to retreat. If Ma Su had not attacked fiercely and completed the strategic task in advance, I am afraid that Ma Su would not have noticed that the Huainan Wei army had already prepared to withdraw in advance.

You know, although the Han and Wei sides are fighting in Yanzhou now, it seems that Hebei is in danger. But the entire Xuyu State in the Central Plains still obeys Cao Wei, with a population of over one million, and it is the place where Cao Wei started.

It is such a large area, and Cao Wei is going to give it up on his own initiative. Even if they withdraw too hastily, I'm afraid Hefei will be given to Dongwu!

This is something Ma Su will never accept. Ma Su will feel uncomfortable if Sun Quan expands an inch of territory.

"Envoy, since the retreat route of the Wei army has been explored, why don't we quickly lead the troops eastward and capture Pengcheng first?" Jiang Wei also finished reading the map and scratched his head and said to Ma Su.

"How can it be so easy? Now the main forces are fighting in Yanzhou. It's not so easy to withdraw." Ma Su shook his head and looked at the deployment of both Han and Wei on the map. He had a headache for a while.

At first, he didn't expect that the Wei army would have such great courage and directly handed over thousands of miles of land. This made Ma Su's main force sent to the Yanzhou line, and it was basically impossible to withdraw to the east in a short time.

Sima Yi was sure of this, so he took the initiative to withdraw to Linqiu. After all, as long as Ma Su occupied Linqiu, he had to leave his troops here to cut off the road to Yanzhou.

And this also left the only Han army troops in Ma Su's hands in Linqiu.

However, Ma Su soon thought of a solution to this problem.

"Since the main force can't get away, I will only take the elite troops south and delay the actions of the Wei army as much as possible!" After Ma Su pondered for a while, he immediately thought of the Xuanfeng Camp he had trained for many years.

At this time, the only one who could be counted on was the Xuanfeng Camp that had not yet been put into the battlefield.

However, Jiang Wei raised an objection at this time,

"Envoy, although the Xuanfeng Camp is good at fighting, there are only 3,000 people in total. There are about 100,000 Wei troops returning to the south of Huaibei. Is it really safe for you to take these people south... It would be safer to bring thousands of cavalry with you."

"No! I am here to intercept the Wei army. In theory, the main battle is to fight an offensive and defensive battle in Pengcheng!"

Ma Su shook his head and rejected Jiang Wei's proposal without hesitation.

"It's a waste to bring cavalry. These great men should shine on the battlefield where they are more needed!"

Afterwards, Ma Su did not give Jiang Wei any chance to persuade him further, and immediately made the decision.

"That's it. I will personally lead the elite soldiers of the Selected Front Camp to the south, take the lead in attacking Donghai State, and intercept the main force of the Huainan Wei Army. Bo Yue, you lead the troops to the south to attack Nan Yanzhou with Xiu Ran, and end the Yanzhou war as soon as possible!"

"We must fight quickly and decisively. If the Huainan Wei Army runs back to Hebei, our future northern expedition will become extremely difficult!"

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Ma Su's reaction was timely enough, because at the same time he made the decision, the Wei Army in Shouchun had also set off.

During this retreat, all the generals and soldiers of the Wei Army looked at Shouchun City with nostalgia. According to the orders they received, they may never return to Shouchun again.

And the main generals returning to the north also changed from Sima Zhao to Guo Huai and Sima Shi. As for the Zhennan General Zhuge Dan, he was left behind in an extremely strange way.

In this regard, Sima Shi gave the reason that they were going to Hebei to fight the Shu army this time. As long as they win, they can drive the Shu army back to Luoyang, and Huainan will be out of danger.

So Zhuge Dan was left to guard Huainan and wait for them to come back.

Of course, these nonsense can fool children. As a meritorious dog, Zhuge Dan knew very well that this was just treating him as a pawn. But he didn't say anything, but just accepted the order silently.

Before leaving, Guo Huai also saw Zhuge Dan's disappointment. So he kindly gave advice, saying that if things were urgent, he could face south and pay tribute, and the emperor would not blame him.

In response, Zhuge Dan gave the answer,

"It's better to give it to the Shu bandits than to the Wu bandits!"

Guo Huai didn't say anything about Zhuge Dan's attitude, but bowed and said goodbye.

After bidding farewell to Zhuge Dan, Guo Huai and Sima Shi led an army of 80,000 to retreat to Xiapi. Then they crossed the Sishui River from Xiapi and retreated to the direction of Donghai State.

From Xiapi to Donghai State, there were water routes to take advantage of, and the army's marching speed was suddenly increased. 80,000 Wei troops entered the territory of Donghai State in just a few days.

Next, they only needed to quickly enter Langya all the way north, so they could return to Hebei before the Han army arrived. At that time, if Ma Su wanted to pursue, he could only cross mountains and ridges to Qingzhou.

However, just as the main force of the Wei army continued to march towards Kaiyang, they suddenly received an envoy.

"General Zhengxi, General Zhengbei, the whole family of the King of Donghai is now in Licheng. In view of the current situation of the Shu army approaching, I hope you can send someone to meet them."

The envoy of the King of Donghai cupped his hands and carefully advised Sima Shi.

"The King of Donghai? Didn't he receive the order to retreat a long time ago? I heard that the emperor has prepared a mansion for him in Luoyang." Sima Shi was stunned for a moment when he heard the messenger's request, and then asked with a puzzled look.