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It was gradually approaching early February. When Gan Ning led a grain transport fleet to Hefei, it completely alleviated the food crisis between the army and the people. At this time, the Hefei and Shouchun areas had already begun a vigorous city building and military farming campaign. With the assistance of the Han army, more than 100,000 young men and women cultivated fields and transported stones, cut down trees, rebuilt houses, and built water conservancy. The land of Chaohu, which was deserted due to the war, regained vitality again.

However, the Han army did not withdraw its troops back to Jingzhou. Liu Jing hoped to take this opportunity to seize the land north of the Yangtze River in an all-round way so that Han army warships could patrol and cruise on the river outside Jianye.

On the 5,000-stone warship at Ruxukou, Liu Jing and seven or eight senior Han army officials were discussing countermeasures in front of the sand table. Liu Jing slowly said to everyone: "The plan I am considering is to use the 20,000 Cao troops attacking Yu Jin to occupy the entire south of Guangling."

Liu Jing pointed to the sand table with a wooden pole and said, "According to the agreement reached between Cao Pi and I, the Cao army must all evacuate south of the Huai River, which also includes the 20,000 Cao troops currently stationed in Jiangdong. These 20,000 Cao troops must retreat north, and Yu Jin's 20,000 Cao troops can only retreat north from Guangling County. Only when Cao army stays in Guangling County but does not leave, we can launch an attack on Cao army on the grounds that Cao army violates the agreement and thus occupy the north bank of the Yangtze River."

When Liu Jing said this, seeing the generals nodded one after another, Pang Tong was silent, Liu Jing asked, "Do you have any ideas for Military Advisor Pang?"

Pang Tong sighed slightly and said, "I'm afraid that the agreement between us and Cao Pi will not be bound by Yu Jin. Without Cao Cao's orders, how could Yu Jin retreat from northeastern Jiang? I'm afraid Cao Cao would not issue such an order."

Liu Jing sneered: "If this is the case, we will launch a battle against Cao's army and drive Yu Jin's Cao army out of Jiangdong. At that time, we may not need to take action, and Sun Quan will also force Cao's army to leave."

Gan Ning next to him also smiled and said, "It's better for Yu Jin to refuse to leave, so that we have a reason to declare war. When Cao's army retreats to the north bank, we will immediately launch an attack and directly occupy the north bank of the Yangtze River."

All the generals supported sending troops to Jiangdong, and even hoped to use this opportunity to directly destroy Jiangdong. However, Liu Jing knew that the time to destroy Jiangdong is not yet ripe and needs to be taken step by step.

He waved his hand, and the cabin suddenly became quiet. Liu Jing said to the generals: "No matter what, we have to do what we should do. We can be polite first and then soldiers."

At this time, the Lord Bo Qin Mi stepped forward and said, "I am willing to go to Jiangdong as an envoy."

The news that Cao's army was defeated in Hefei and was forced to retreat north of the Huai River had already reached Jiangdong, and it immediately caused a great shock in the Jiangdong government and the countryside. For ordinary people in Jiangdong, this news is worth celebrating. When the war ends, everyone does not have to worry about living a life. For merchants, this is also good news. The Han army no longer has to block the river surface and allows merchant ships to go west to do business.

But for many knowledgeable people in Jiangdong, this news is heavy. If the Han army occupied Jianghuai, will the next target be Jiangdong?

However, for Sun Quan, this result was as expected. Since the Han army changed its battle against Hefei to a national strength battle, Sun Quan knew that the Cao army would undoubtedly be defeated. It was not that the land of Cao Wei was not vast enough, but that the Han army had more advantages in the most critical food issue in this battle.

They had just defeated the Huns and had huge war dividends. They not only had tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, but also had ranches in Longxi and Hexi. The source of military rations was not just grain fields. From this point of view, the Han army was able to fight a protracted war even more.

When the news of Cao's army retreating north came, for Sun Quan, it was just a second boot landing, confirming his speculation, and Sun Quan was calm about the news.

On the contrary, the 20,000 Cao army in Piling County made Sun Quan quite troubled. The reason was very simple. He could no longer afford the money and grain expenses of this army. The 20,000 Cao army spent 10,000 stones per month, which was completely borne by Jiangdong. They had been stationed for almost half a year and consumed 60,000 stones of grain in Jiangdong.

Due to the lack of farming farmers in Wujun, the main grain-producing area, the grain production has been greatly reduced this year. Only the grain in the five counties including Danyang, Piling, Xindu, Yuzhang and Jiujiang also needs to support the 10,000 troops in Jiangdong itself. The grain supply is very tight, and the market grain price has not been lower than the money of rice, which puts great pressure on Sun Quan.

Sun Quan was willing to let Cao's army retreat north, but he was worried about the threat of the Han army in Hu and Kuaiji County, so he had been reluctant to make up his mind. Moreover, in November last year, he sent someone to test Yu Jin, the chief general of Cao's army. Yu Jin's answer was that they had to be ordered by Duke Wei to retreat, which made Sun Quan even more upset. Could it be that Cao Cao planned to keep this Cao army stationed in Piling County?

In the back hall of Jianye Palace, Sun Quan was walking back and forth a little upset. Just now, Yu Jin sent someone to ask him for food for a month, that is, 10,000 stones of food, but his treasury was only 50,000 stones of food. Once Yu Jin was given, what should his army do?

Cao's army's needs were like a greedy bottomless pit, which was disturbing Sun Quan's already uneasy heart all the time. What made Sun Quan even more angry was that Cao Cao promised to give Jiangdong 100,000 stones of grain. There was no news yet, and there was still 10,000 barrels of fake tincture oil. He had not had time to settle the score with Cao Cao.

Another thing that made Sun Quan dissatisfied. Cao Cao promised to marry his daughter to him, but since their warship was burned by the Han army, Cao Cao never mentioned this again, as if he had never made a promise.

Although Sun Quan was upset about Cao Cao and Cao's army, he also knew that the food needed by Cao's army must be given, but could he give 10,000 stones first, and not to use 10,000 stones to oppress him at once.

At this moment, a guard hurried over and reported in the hall, "Report to the Marquis of Wu, Military Secretary Zhang has an urgent matter to ask for a meeting."

Sun Quan nodded and ordered, "Let him come to see me."

Soon, Zhang Zhao quickly walked into the inner hall and smiled and said, "Marquis Wu, Liu Jing sent Qin Mi again."

Sun Quan couldn't help but be stunned, "Why is this time?"

"I asked Qin Mi, to be precise, Qin Mi did not come to meet Wu Hou, but went to Piling County to meet Yu Jin."

"What does he want to see Yu Jin do?" Sun Quan asked in confusion.

"Qin Mi didn't say anything about it, but the old minister could roughly guess that Liu Jing hoped that Cao's army would evacuate Jiangdong."

Sun Quan snorted coldly and said, "He wants Cao's army to withdraw, so why doesn't he withdraw his troops and treat Jiangdong as something?"

Zhang Zhao smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Wu, don't worry about it. The Han army defeated Cao's army and the two sides signed an agreement. Cao's army must retreat to the south of the Huai River, including the Cao army in Jiangdong. Therefore, it is reasonable for Liu Jing to send an envoy to urge Yu Jin to withdraw his troops."

Sun Quan did not speak for a long time, paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. He suddenly turned around and asked, "Liu Jing asked Cao's army to withdraw, are you ready to attack Jiangdong?"

Sun Quan's face became solemn, and his eyes were staring at Zhang Zhao coldly. He was most worried and afraid of things that would come unexpectedly.

Zhang Zhao shook his head, "A battle in Hefei also exhausted the Han Dynasty's national strength and the soldiers were exhausted. Moreover, Jiangdong still has strength, and the military and people's hearts are all towards Wu. Therefore, the old minister believed that he should not attack Jiangdong now and would not take action within a year or two. However, he was very taboo about the Sun-Cao alliance, so he must have Cao's army abide by the agreement to retreat north."

Sun Quan thought about it and it was indeed the case. He let go of his heart and said to Zhang Zhao: "Actually, I also hope that Cao's army can retreat to Jiangbei, at least let Cao Cao bear their military rations. I really can't afford it anymore, but I'm afraid that Yu Jin will not evacuate. What should I do?"

Zhang Zhao smiled slightly, "The old minister thinks that the old minister doesn't have to worry about this problem. The old minister believes that Liu Jing will have a solution."

Sun Quan seemed to know what Liu Jing would use to force Cao's army to leave. He couldn't help but sigh softly, "I just hope that there will be no tragedy of false Taoist destruction of Guo."

Although Qin Mi went to meet with Yu Jin, the chief general of Cao's army, Sun Quan still met him out of etiquette. Moreover, what Liu Jing's attitude towards Jiangdong and whether the Han army warships in the lake were withdrawn must be clarified.

However, Sun Quan did not have great hope for Qin Mi, and perhaps he could express his attitude to Liu Jing through Qin Mi.

In the inner hall, Qin Mi took a sip of tea calmly and smiled at Sun Quan: "The reason why the Han army stationed troops in the lake was to fight against the Cao army in Piling County, not against Jiangdong. Once Piling County can withdraw from Jiangdong, His Highness the King of Han is willing to reduce the troops in the lake."

Zhang Zhao and Bu Zhi, who were sitting by the side, looked at each other. The other party was very cautious in using words and actually used cuts instead of withdrawing, which showed that the Han army would still garrison troops in the lake.

Of course, even if Qin Mi said that the Han army would withdraw, they would not believe that how could the fat meat that had eaten was easily spit out? Qin Mi said that it was somewhat credible to cut the garrison.

"I don't know how many garrisons the Han army is preparing to reduce," Sun Quan asked without hesitation.

"I don't know how much it is, but His Highness the King of Han means that it can be discussed in detail. As long as Cao's army withdraws, it is not impossible for all Han army to withdraw."

This statement lifted everyone here. It is true that as long as Cao's army retreated north, the Han army would not have any reason to continue to stay in the lake. The Han army would definitely withdraw the conditions and withdraw the troops if they were allowed.

For Sun Quan, the most important thing is that the Han army is willing to withdraw from the lake and relieve the danger of Jiangdong's hinterland. As for the conditions for withdrawal, he can accept it as long as it is not an excessive amount.

Thinking of this, Sun Quan smiled happily and said, "Then let me give in to Bu Changshi and Qin Zhubo to Cao's camp."
Chapter completed!