The situation in the world has changed to the present, even Zhuge Liang will no longer hold on to any "Sun-Liu Alliance".

Obviously, now that the Han family is dominant, as long as the monarchs and ministers on the Dongwu side are not collectively withdrawn, it is impossible to form an alliance with the Han again, and it is inevitable that the two families will turn their faces.

Not to mention, Sun Quan has proved with repeated actions that in his eyes, no covenant is as important as actual interests.

Since you Sun Quan have fought Jingzhou four times, then for the south of Yanzhou, and even Xuzhou, there is no reason for the Han to let go.

To a certain extent, Sima Yi's strategy was successful after all, and Dongwu had been dragged into the water by Sima Yi and used to delay time for Great Wei.

This is not how high Sima Yi's strategy is, but the general trend of the world, taking Yanzhou, there is no reason not to take Xuzhou when Cao Cao faced such a critical juncture in the battle of Guandu, he first pacified Xuzhou, and then led troops to Dongjun to fight Yuan Shao.

Cao Cao, Xun Yu and others can see this, but strategists at the same level have no reason not to understand it.

No matter what, Zhang Xi, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu all think that they should attack Soochow.

It's just that Pang Tong believes that he can ignore the situation of the Eastern Wu army in southern Yanzhou for the time being, and now he should concentrate his forces and take advantage of the fact that Eastern Wu is not ready for war to directly attack Shanyang County, break through from Shanyang County, enter Xuzhou, and then sweep Qingxu and encircle Huainan.

Zhang Xi and Xu Shu believed that it was still necessary to solve the threat of the Eastern Wu army in southern 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 attacked Shanyang County, Lu Xun would continue to go north and besiege Wei to save Zhao.

First, the Eastern Wu Army in the southern part of Yanzhou was swept away, the activity space of the Eastern Wu Army was compressed, and the threat of Eastern Wu to Yanzhou was reduced, and then the issue of advancing into Xuzhou was considered.

And Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang didn't speak.

On the one hand, Zhuge Liang is not easy to express his position, after all, he is the prime minister, if he takes the initiative to express his support for which plan, it will basically become a resolution, and he must be cautious.

On the other hand, Zhuge Liang felt that he had to avoid suspicion to some extent, after all, the person who guarded Langya County in Xuzhou was his own brother, Zhuge Jin, the person who occupied Shanyang County, was his own brother, Zhuge Dan.

is different from Zhuge Qian, a "clan brother" who doesn't know how many generations have passed, Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Dan are both brothers who have genealogies to check and are serious.

Zhuge Liang still has to pay attention to this matter.

Another one, in fact, Zhuge Liang was also a little worried, so he looked at Li Yan.

"Zhengfang, how long can the imperial court store grain?!" Zhuge Liang asked Li Yanfa.

Li Yan thought for a while, and then said, "If the last Northern Expedition is concerned, it can still be supported for half a year. If the prime minister is worried that the money will not be enough, he can strictly order the states to collect grain again in preparation for war. ”

In this regard, Li Yan really didn't lie.

Li Yan in this time and space, although he also has a lot of selfishness, but today's big man is not the big man who is only supported by Zhuge Liang, and Li Yan has not earned any name as a minister, he is just a senior official with some ability, but the influence of the DPRK and China is still limited.

In addition, in the early years, Li Yan has been suppressed by Zhang Xi and Pang Tong, and has always wandered in the middle and low levels, and now he finally has the opportunity to enter the center and grasp the real power of Zhongshu Province.

And Li Yan, who is serious about his work, is still very outstanding, in charge of logistics and grain, and basically has not made any mistakes.

In terms of grain and grass reserves, there is indeed still grain in stock.

After all, in the last Northern Expedition, Li Yan was divided into three batches to collect grain and grass according to the prediction that he would fight for two years.

But who knows, Li Yancai launched the second batch of grain and grass collection, and the battle on the front line has only been fought for less than nine months, and Yanzhou has already taken the grain and grass that is now in Chang'an, and it is true that the grain and grass that has been hoarded for half a year can be used.

Today's Han is also a big family, and this Northern Expedition is the power of the whole country. This national strength is completely different from the Han Dynasty, which only has one state in history.

Therefore, the grain and grass are completely sufficient, and even if Li Yan carries out the third expedition of grain and grass as expected, the sum of the front and back can still support a large-scale operation for a year.

It's just that after Zhuge Liang listened to Li Yan's words, he waved his hand slightly, asking Li Yan not to be impatient.

To be honest, Zhuge Liang didn't want Li Yan to launch the third grain levy, and every time the grain levy was to increase the burden on the people.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang hopes that on the basis of the existing half-year grain stockpile, if the war is 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 take Xuzhou or at least capture Xiapi County within half a year, and cut off the communication channel between Eastern Wu Huainan and Xuzhou.

It's just that, it's not easy for Zhuge Liang to speak. Avoid suspicion.

Fortunately, none of the people present were stupid, Zhuge Liang took the initiative to ask for grain and grass to store grain, plus this guy now understands the constipation that he wants to say but doesn't say.

Therefore, some words were conveyed by Xu Shu on his behalf.

Of course, Pang Tong could also observe Zhuge Liang's abnormality, and he also knew Zhuge Liang's intention to ask about the share of grain and grass. Pang Tong thought about it for a long time, but he really couldn't think of a more secure way.

It's not that Pang Tong doesn't have a way to attack Xuzhou, but he can't think of a way to guarantee that he will capture Xuzhou within half a year.

If you want to attack Xuzhou, you must first conquer Xiapi County, otherwise, Eastern Wu can send troops from Huainan, whether it is to encircle Wei to save Zhao's attack on Yanzhou, or to support the flank of Xiapi County from Huainan to the south, it can play a good role in defending Xiapi County.

And Lu Xun, the Huainan general of Eastern Wu, has also become famous in recent years.

Although let's say it, among the Han ministers present, only Zhang Xi and Lu Xun have indirect combat experience, but Zhang Xi's evaluation of Lu Xun is extremely high.

Zhang Xi was full of praise for Lu Xun's ability, believing that he was no less than Zhou Yu. This evaluation is enough to arouse Pang Tong's attention.

In these years, no matter which camp people in the world are, they all know that Zhang Xi is the best at appreciating the world's characters, and the people he is not optimistic about are not necessarily incapable, but the people he is optimistic about must have real skills.

Anyway, Pang Tong thought about it for a while, and felt that if his opponent was Zhou Yu, he wanted to take half a year to defeat the entire Xuzhou under the control of Zhou Yu. It doesn't seem to be that easy.

Not to mention that there is also a Zhuge Festival.

is also according to Zhang Xi, Zhuge Dan's ability to govern is average, but if you talk about governing the army, Zhuge Dan's ability is still very strong. At least relying only on Hu Zun of Jiyin County, I am afraid that he may not necessarily be able to do Zhuge Day.

The two uncertain factors add up, even if Pang Tong thinks that if he leads his troops, he can capture Xuzhou, but if he wants to ensure that it is completed within half a year, it seems that it is not so easy.

Therefore, we can only retreat to the second place, first sweep the southern part of Yanzhou, develop with peace of mind for two years, and then send troops to Xuzhou.

If the target is lowered, then there is no need to think about the person who will lead the troops.

Xu Shu is the new Yanzhou assassin history, all the counties under his command have town guard generals, the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army only withdrew part of the Guanzhong troops, and the remaining Heluo main force and Nanyang soldiers are still in Yanzhou to assist in the defense, and there is no shortage of troops. Don't bother, let Xu Shu fight with Lu Xun.

And when they had taken care of these things, they dispersed, and went every man to his own place.

Pang Tong continued to stay in the center and presided over the daily government affairs with Li Yan, Xu Shu returned to Yanzhou to prepare for war and prepare to recapture the southern part of Yanzhou, Zhuge Liang returned to Luoyang to preside over the people's livelihood development work in Heluo and Yanzhou, Zhang Xi returned to Nanjun to preside over the affairs of Jingzhou, and Kou Feng returned to the three eastern counties and continued to garrison the place.

By the way, Meng Da stayed in Chang'an.

Hu Zun was transferred to Yanzhou, and Zuo Fengyi's position became vacant.

In this Northern Expedition, although Meng Da did not make much contribution, he had a little credit and hard work, and Zhang Xi also fulfilled his promise and recommended Meng Da as Zuo Fengyi's Taishou.

As for the marquis, Meng Da's contribution is not enough to make the marquis, and Meng Da also knows this regard, but he can leave the place in the three eastern counties and come to Chang'an to be an official, Meng Da is already very satisfied.

Not to mention, in Chang'an, with Li Yan in the center to take care of, with Meng Da's interpersonal skills, he is not afraid that there is no room for development, it is much better than nesting in the three eastern counties and facing a silly boss every day.

In this way, as the Han side entered the stage of strategic recuperation, the Fifth Northern Expedition of the Han Dynasty came to an end.

(End of chapter)