Chapter 914 Liu Bei Withdraws His Troops

If you want to ask the heroes competing for hegemony, what is the most important thing? It is neither land nor a single general, but population.

In ancient times when productivity was backward, population represented productivity. A large population can provide more food and soldiers.

The Han Dynasty divided the world into thirteen states. Why are the states in the north and the Central Plains generally small in area, while Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Yizhou, and Jiaozhou in the south have vast territories? This is because the main basis for the division of prefectures and counties in the Han Dynasty was not land, but population. Because the north was densely populated, the territory was small, while the south was sparsely populated, so the territory was naturally larger.

The importance of population to the country is self-evident. Zhuge Liang was listed among the Ten Philosophers of the Martial Arts Temple during the Tang and Song dynasties. He never made any major mistakes in leading troops in battles. However, the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han Dynasty still failed repeatedly and was eventually annexed by the Wei State. The reason It is because the population of Wei State far exceeds that of Shu State.

No matter how brave and skillful your Shu army is, it can't match the large number of Cao Wei soldiers. If I kill one of yours, you have to kill three or even four of me to be considered a tie. Over time, more and more people in Shu died, so they had to recruit strong people to serve as soldiers, which would inevitably affect food production. Naturally, Shu was no match for Wei.

In fact, when the heroes fought in the late Han Dynasty, they mainly fought for population. For example, after Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and obtained Jizhou, he checked the household registration and found that Jizhou had "a population of 300,000 people", and he was overjoyed.

In the famous Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Bei was proud and proud. Cao Cao left the battle saying that it was "tasteless". In fact, the population of Hanzhong had been moved away by Cao's army. Liu Bei only got the land but not the people. It can only be regarded as a tactical gain. success.

Now, although Cao's army came to help from all directions and the Yuzhou army had to retreat, Liu Bei made up his mind to move the population of Huainan. This would be regarded as a success.

That night, Liu Bei ordered the withdrawal of the troops. Taking advantage of the darkness, more than 20,000 Yuzhou troops quietly left the military camp without being exposed.

Shouchun was once designated as the capital by Yuan Shu, so it was naturally prosperous and prosperous in Yangzhou. Despite Yuan Shu's wanton construction of palaces, misdeeds, and wars, the local population was still over 100,000.

Liu Bei, on the other hand, moved more than 30,000 people west of Shouchun City in one breath and headed towards Runan County.

the next day.

"Huh? Why are there birds above Liu Bei's military camp? Is it possible?"

Han Hao stood on top of Shouchun City and looked at the Yuzhou Army barracks outside the city, feeling puzzled.

"Come here, come out of the city and have a look!" Han Hao hurriedly waved and ordered dozens of Cao's troops to go out of the city to check. Although these Cao's troops were a little afraid, they could not resist Han Hao's heavy reward, so dozens of Cao's troops gritted their teeth and lowered the city. And out.

Dozens of Cao soldiers cautiously moved towards the camp of the Yuzhou army. They quietly reached within a stone's throw of their shields and hurriedly put up their shields, fearing that the archers in the camp would suddenly appear to shoot arrows.

But no.

Dozens of Cao's soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, and then continued to move forward, but there was no resistance in the camp, so they felt relieved and moved forward.

Soon after, dozens of Cao soldiers rushed out and shouted to the city: "Han Hujun! There are no enemy troops in the camp."

"The Yuzhou army retreated?" Han Hao couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn't help but wonder in his heart: "Why did Liu Bei retreat at night? Could it be that something happened in Yuzhou?"

Now Liu Bei and Cao's army are stalemate in Shouchun, and the two armies are evenly matched. Why did Liu Bei suddenly retreat? Han Hao couldn't figure it out.

At this moment, several riders came from the north, rushed to Shouchun City, and shouted to the top of the city: "Is General Xiahou here? We are the scouts under the command of Captain Cao Zhen."

"General Xiahou is recuperating. I am the guard Han Hao. If you have anything to say, just tell me." Han Hao shouted down while lying on the top of the city.

"Captain Cao, on the orders of the Prime Minister, led his troops south to break the siege of Shouchun. He is now less than thirty miles north of Shouchun City."

Hearing this, Han Hao couldn't help but be overjoyed: "That's great, I'll inform General Xiahou right now."

Not long after, Cao Zhen led 3,000 Cao Jun and 10,000 Min Zhuang to the outside of the city. After Cao Zhen ordered Cao Jun and Min Zhuang to station outside the city, he casually entered the city with more than ten relatives.

"Cao Zhen has met Han Hujun." Cao Zhen saluted Han Hao.

"It doesn't matter, Zi Dan led the troops to rescue him. It really solved the urgent need!" Han Hao held Cao Zhen's hand and said excitedly: "I wonder how many reinforcements Zi Dan has led?"

"Haha, there are only three thousand people." Cao Zhen said with a smile.

"What? But I just saw tens of thousands of people outside the city." Han Hao was shocked.

"Haha, those are just the people I temporarily recruited in Quyang and Dangtu to scare people." Cao Zhen laughed and said what Cao Cao told him.

Han Hao couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "The Prime Minister really had a plan. Zi Dan, under the banner of the Prime Minister, could not lead more than 3,000 troops, and Liu Xuande's 30,000 troops retreated."

Cao Zhen said modestly: "You can't say that. If there were not more than 20,000 troops inside and outside the city, Liu Bei would not retreat despite the difficulties."

"correct."

Cao Zhen suddenly said: "Why don't you see Uncle Yuan Rang?"

Cao Cao was originally a member of the Xiahou clan. He was later adopted into the Cao family and inherited the Cao family lineage. This was very common in ancient times, such as the Zhuge family. Zhuge Liang had no children in his early years, so he adopted a son from his elder brother Zhuge Jin as his heir.

Later, Zhuge Jin's son Zhuge Ke led an army to attack Hefei Xincheng, but failed for several months. Instead, he lost his troops and generals, and retreated to Jiangdong in embarrassment. Because Zhuge Ke had been arrogant and domineering in the country before, Lord Wu took the opportunity to execute Zhuge Ke's family.

It happened that Zhuge Liang and Huang Yueying had given birth to Zhuge Zhan at this time. After having a son, he heard that his brother's clan had been exterminated, so Zhuge Liang asked his previously adopted nephew to return to the Kingdom of Wu and inherit Zhuge Jin's clan.

Because of this, the Cao family and the Xiahou family have a very close relationship, so Cao Zhen also has deep feelings for Xiahou Dun.

"Alas, General Xiahou, he was shot in the eye by the enemy general Guan Ping. In order to boost his morale, he pulled it out and ate it on the spot. He forced himself to hold on until the battle and then passed out. He is still recovering." Han Hao sighed.

"Ah this!"

Cao Zhen was anxious and angry, and couldn't help clenching his fists.

"That's all. The patient needs recuperation. If I go to see Uncle Yuan Rang, I'm afraid he will be unstable."

Cao Zhen gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and said, "What a shame, I have to avenge Uncle Yuan Rang!"

"When Liu Bei led his army to retreat, he kidnapped tens of thousands of people in Jiujiang County. Since Zidan wants to pursue him, our army can take advantage of the situation to recover some of the people!"

Han Hao coincides with Cao Zhen.