The time came to December 267. The people of all ethnic groups in the Guanzhong area north of the Qinling Mountains were horrified to find that it was December, and the temperature was getting lower and lower, but the heavy snow they had been waiting for had not yet come. Not to mention the widespread heavy snowfall, there is no light snow in the local area!

Any experienced farmer knows that next year will be another disaster year.

In December, Shi Bao did not leave Qinchuan as originally planned, and then joined forces with Sima Wang to besiege Guan Yi and Yu Yi County, for no other reason: Jiang Wei did not leave in the street pavilion.

This battle has been fought until now, whether it is Shi Bao on the northern line or Sima Wang on the southern line, they have deeply realized that Shu Han is really not what it used to be.

In the past, the Northern Expedition of Shu Han was all about how to quickly carry out the decisive battle. Because their food is extremely limited, they cannot tolerate consumption. Therefore, it is generally the generals of Wei who find a strong city to defend, and then sit and watch the other party run out of food and retreat. But what about this time? The war has been going on for two months, and both Jiang Wei and Guan Yi dare to confront their own side in the strong city defense. If there is not enough food, it will never be possible.

In short, Jiang Wei didn't leave the street pavilion. Shi Bao didn't dare to go in Qinchuan. If he doesn't leave, Sima Wang will not be able to completely encircle Yixian on the southern front. Then Guan Yi could still carry a steady stream of grain from Hanzhong to the two cities. And every stone of grain in Guan Yi's city means that the siege of Yixian County in the future will pay more lives for its own soldiers!

"Shi Yuan did see Jiang Wei over there in the street pavilion, right?"

"Yes, Da Sima. The last general once talked to Jiang Wei, so he would never admit his mistake. Five days ago, he just went over there to give Jiang Wei a gift on behalf of Da Sima, and he personally received it. Well, it's his return gift......"

"It shouldn't be, why is this guy still not leaving the street pavilion? Don't he be here, and then his army will go first, right? ”

"Great Sima, the last general is sure that he himself has not left, and his army has not left either." It was Shi Chong who said this, and during this time, he also followed Hu Yuan many times, and went to the street pavilion many times to investigate in the name of the great Sima of the Jin State greeting the general of the Shu State.

Jiang Wei didn't care about this obvious act of espionage, on the contrary, he showed the other party his military appearance and the new young Changguan very frankly. Every time these two people came, Jiang Wei took them to watch his own cavalry training, and even took them to hunt and other entertainment activities.

In a word: I'm in the street pavilion, don't go, Shibud, what do you think?

What can Shibud do? Wang Jun under his command is definitely a talent, but if Wang Jun wants to use 20,000 people against Jiang Wei's 60,000 or 70,000 people, he is not at ease to this point. Therefore, if Jiang Wei doesn't leave, he can only spend it here.

But it doesn't work here. Sima Wang's side had the support of the 30,000 Luoyang Chinese army originally allocated to Shibao, but Sima Wang's strength plus the 5,000 cavalry of the bald department was now only in the early 70,000s (the 10,000 in Tongguan could not be moved), and this amount of troops could not launch a strong attack on Yixian. And if Guan Yi in Yixian County is not eliminated or driven away, the Jin side will not be able to concentrate troops into Longxi. If they can't enter Longxi as soon as possible, Shu Han's rule in Longxi will become more and more solid.

Speaking of which, in the past month or so, the most beautiful thing is Wu Qiao and Laiqing. After the destruction of the Longxi Army of the Jin State, their detachment of 10,000 people was simply invincible in the four counties of Longxi. Within a month, almost bloodlessly, they took Nan'an, Longxi and Jincheng County in Liangzhou. Along the way, countless aliens either took the initiative or were forced to hand over many soldiers to join the army, and by the time the two soldiers headed farther west to Xiping County, the size of the team had expanded to 18,000 people.

The Wulai detachment was marching forward, and Chen Can, who was sitting in Jicheng, was not idle. For the first time, Shu Han won such a vast territory, and there were countless more official places. The people of Yizhou, who had been squeezed for decades, and the descendants of the Jingzhou faction and the Dongzhou faction, who were not very successful, submerged Chen Can's yamen in an instant, and all of them were like canines in the hot summer, sticking out their scarlet tongues, looking at Chen Can pitifully, hoping to get a good official position.

As the son of the former Shang Shuling, Chen Can lived a life of spotlight and stars in his early years. After his father died, he went out of Fuling County, but except for a eunuch, there was no one to see him off. Now, that feeling of sycophancy from the early years is back.

Chen Can, who has experienced the warmth and coldness of human feelings, certainly knows what to do at this time. Although he is the patriarch of the Fuxing Society, his personal relationship with Guan Da Sima is also very good. But in this matter, he took the initiative to delegate power and invited Yin Zheng and Chang Ji to come to Jicheng to preside over the selection and appointment of officials in Longxi and Liangzhou. And he himself went to shoulder the logistics of the entire Northern Expeditionary Corps.

"Uncle He, how much inventory is there here in Jicheng now?"

"If you don't want to drive, as of today's December 1, the Jicheng Grain Depot already has 1.3 million stone of grain and 600,000 stone of hay."

"Well, what about the street pavilion?"

"It's a long way to go, and the road conditions are not very good. So at present, there are only 400,000 stone of grain and 150,000 stone of hay. ”

"Not bad. Do you have any numbers over there? ”

"Well, don't drive, the figure on Da Sima's side is fifteen days ago, it's 1.1 million stone of grain and 400,000 stone of hay."

"Well, that's 2.8 million stone grain. How much stock do we still have in Hanzhong and Wudu? ”

"This, my subordinates will check it, oh, Da Sima, the report received as of yesterday. At present, there are still 3 million stone grain in the Wudu treasury and 3 million stone grain in the Hanzhong warehouse. ”

"In other words, more than two months after the start of the war, our army consumed 1.2 million stone of grain? Why so many? ”

"Well, don't be embarrassed. Of the 1.2 million stone of grain consumed, only about 600,000 stone was eaten by the soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, horses, pack horses, etc. Of the remainder, about 300,000 stones were lost during the transportation process. This part of the loss can be reduced with the erection of the zipline between the foothills of the Qinling Mountains one by one, and the slowing down of the high-intensity grain transportation work at this stage. Well...... There are also 300,000 stones, Da Sima recruited local people to build Anguo City on the side of Yixian, and the two generals of Wu and Lai on our side went west to Liangzhou, in order to attract more foreign tribes to send capable cavalry to send out......"

"In other words, the monthly consumption of our army, plus the loss on the road and some additional expenses, is currently 600,000 stone a month?"

"Yes. But this consumption will gradually decrease. If the main force of the Great General is still stationed in the street pavilion, from next month, it will be about 500,000 stone consumption. If the main force of the great general goes south, it should be reduced to within 450,000 stones. It's just that the troops of the two generals Wu and Lai, if they continue to penetrate deep into Liangzhou, the consumption will be greater and greater. ”

"Hey, my brother prepared 10 million stone of grain for the first phase of the Northern Expedition this time, and we all thought it was enough. Now, it seems that it is not enough. I really don't know how the general survived the Northern Expedition in the past and sent troops with hundreds of thousands of stone grain. ”

"Uh...... The subordinates feel that we can also adopt the general's previous strategy of feeding the enemy because of food. ”

"Hahahaha, uncle, haven't you seen that it's December now, and there is no snow in Longxi? This kind of dry and cold weather can't kill the locust eggs in the ground. Next year, this place will be accompanied by a drought and a plague of locusts. In addition to supporting our own troops here, we also need to be prepared to provide relief to the victims of the disaster in these places. Not only that, but I received a letter from my brother some time ago, saying that there is no snow in the Guanzhong area, and it is estimated that next year will also be a disaster year there. So, our burden is heavy. ”

Glancing at the silent Zhao Diao, Chen Can shook his head helplessly: "Send a letter to Jian Wushuang and Mi Boyao in Chengdu." Before the start of spring ploughing next year, let them find a way to get another 5 million stone grain into the warehouses of Hanzhong and Wudu. After that, all the soldiers and civilians returned to their hometowns and went to the fields for spring ploughing. We must be prepared to use the power of Yizhou to support Yongliang for one to two years. ”

"No! The subordinates will do it immediately. ”

"In addition, I also wrote to the two generals Wu and Lai, explaining our situation here. Xiping is the end point of the Western Front of this war. After taking Xiping, you can't go any further. Further west, Zhangye, Dunhuang or something, it is enough to send a letter to warn the local officials. ”

"No!"

After seeing Zhao Diao leave, Chen Can pondered for a while, sat down, and began to write to Guan Yi: "Brother, seeing the letter, today's battle situation of our army, although Longxi has been determined, remote control Liangzhou. However, because the national strength of our Han is still insufficient, my younger brother is in charge of the logistics of the whole army, and he is quite frightened and walking on thin ice. Since the beginning of the war, more than 10 percent of the tens of millions of grain stocks have been consumed...... Looking at today's situation in Longxi, next year's catastrophe seems to be predictable. Therefore, it is necessary to lay out in advance. Brother, can we fully roll out the planting of potatoes in Yizhou and Longxi next year? If this move is done, the outflow of good seeds is inevitable, but it can solve the dilemma of Yongliang famine. My brother has a little bit of a shallow opinion, and I ask my brother to give me advice......"