"What, Cao Liangli's chance of flooding in Qi River transported all the wood cut from the Taihang Mountains to Liyang?" Sima Shi was shocked when he heard the news.

If a wise man is really worried, he will make a mistake. When Sima retreated, he not only moved away the people of the four counties including Yangping, but also burned all the houses and trees in the four counties. The purpose of his doing this was to cut off all the resources of the four counties so that there would be no more wood in the Bingzhou army to enter the water.

This method of strengthening the walls and clearing the fields has indeed achieved miraculous results. At least Cao Liang cannot use resources nearby to build warships and floating bridges. It is not impossible to transport them from a further place, but it requires a lot of manpower and material resources. What is more important is time. It will be delayed for a while. When the Yellow River freezes and the battle begins again, it will happen next year.

But Sima Shi had made great calculations, but he did not expect that Cao Liang had cut the required wood from Taihang Mountain and transported the wood from Taihang Mountain to Liyang opposite Baimajin through river transportation.

The Taihang Mountains stretched for thousands of miles and were a large area of ​​primeval forest. When Sima retreated, it was too late to go there to set fire. However, Taihang Mountains were at least hundreds of miles away from Baimajin. It was so difficult for those woods to be transported to the white horses. So Sima was not worried that Cao Liang would take the wood from Taihang Mountains. Even if Cao Liang could get it, it would be the year of the Monkey Horse Month. As long as Sima was given more time, he would definitely be able to build a solid Yellow River defense line.

But unexpectedly, Cao Liang took advantage of the opportunity of the mountain torrent to throw the cut down tree trunk into the Qi River, and went down the river, transporting the wood to Liyang with almost no effort.

With these woods, the Bingzhou Army's plan to build ships or pontoon bridges will inevitably be greatly advanced. This is definitely not good news for Sima Shi. According to the detailed investigation, the Bingzhou Army has started construction of ships and pontoon bridges in Liyang. I am afraid that when the construction is completed, it will be the day when the Bingzhou Army crosses the south.

It seems that Sima Shi's previous plan to firm the walls and clear the fields was completely failed. The Qishui River is the closest to the Yellow River. This river, which was originally a tributary of the Yellow River, was transferred to Baigou by Cao Cao. Originally, the amount of Qishui was not large, especially in the upper reaches, with almost no larger flow of water. No one would have thought that the shallow water of that ditch could transport huge wood.

But the Bingzhou Army seized the opportunity of sudden heavy rains and mountain torrents, and took advantage of the rapid rise in the water level of the Qi River to transport all the wood to Liyang in one fell swoop.

This made Sima Shi very puzzled. After all, mountain torrents are not common, and the Bingzhou Army had to cut down trees in Taihang Mountains at least one month in advance. The question is who has such ability to predict heavy rains one month in advance. If it was a great fortune, wouldn’t such a coincidence be too fantastic?

If someone really can predict the future, it would be even more terrible. The right time, place and people are the three essential elements for war. The right place is there, and people can also fight for it by themselves. However, the time of heaven is the most difficult to control and the most difficult to grasp. Isn’t it said that there are unexpected situations in the sky? If someone really can control the time of heaven and control the celestial phenomena, it would be equivalent to taking the lead and being invincible.

Sima Shi didn't know how such an expert could be in the Bingzhou Army, but the situation in front of him was extremely unoptimistic. Originally, Sima Shi believed that the Bingzhou Army would not be able to obtain the tools needed to cross the river, and the crossing of the river would be delayed until next year at least. But now it seems that the Bingzhou Army will likely launch a large-scale river crossing operation within two or three months, that is, before the end of the year, which will be a fatal blow to the Yellow River defense line that has not yet been deployed.

Sima Shi told Zhong Hui to discuss the matter, and Zhong Hui also looked solemn. The Bingzhou army built boats in Liyang. It was obvious that the Yanzhou River section would be the focus of Bingzhou attacks, and the Yanzhou River section had too long defense line and weak troops, which has always been a place where Zhong Hui was more worried.

But even so, the troops in Sizhou and Qingzhou cannot be easily mobilized, because no one can guarantee whether this is a trick Cao Liang was playing tricks. He deliberately built boats in Liyang to attract the attention of Sima Jun and lured Sima Jun's main force to Yanzhou. Then Cao Liang took advantage of the situation and attacked elsewhere.

The way to use troops is between the real and the real, the real and the fake. Zhong Hui is very clear about this. So no matter what tricks Cao Liang is playing, he must firmly insist on his defense plan, so that he will not be led by Cao Liang.

Therefore, the troops in Sizhou and Qingzhou must not be easily mobilized. At most, the troops in the Yanzhou River section can be fine-tuned to cope with the attack of the Bingzhou army.

However, the Sima army had only more than 100,000 people in the Yanzhou River section, and the river section they needed to defend was more than 500 miles long. With such a long line of defense and such a little force, it would be difficult for a skilled woman to cook without rice.

Zhong Hui proposed to Sima Shi that he must increase his troops. Of course, this suggestion Zhong Hui has mentioned it countless times, but this time Zhong Hui emphasized that it must be implemented as soon as possible. After all, the situation is now pressing, and the Bingzhou Army's crossing the river is imminent. If Sima Army is still dragging on defense, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Moreover, Zhong Hui had already proposed that although there was a shortage of troops on the Yellow River defense line, we should not overdo the numbers and use newly recruited troops to offset the numbers. After all, the experience of the Battle of Jizhou has proved that during the war, the newly recruited troops had no combat effectiveness at all, and would become a burden. After all, the defense on the Yellow River defense line is a pit of carrots. If there is a problem with a certain section of the river embankment, it is likely to lead to the collapse of the entire defense line.

Sima Shi naturally knew this truth well, so he decided to draw troops from Huainan to respond to the emergency, but the troops from Huainan were in the hands of Zhuge Dan. If the world was peaceful, Sima Shi would not be afraid of Zhuge Dan. If he dared not respond, Sima Shi could send troops to attack him and destroy his three clans.

But the current situation cannot allow Sima Shida to fight. Once Zhuge Dan is forced to rebel, he may join forces with Cao Liang and stab him hard in the back. At that time, Sima Shi is attacked from both sides, and the situation will become even worse and even more unbearable.

Therefore, when dealing with Zhuge Dan's issue, Sima Shi still needs to deal with it more carefully.
Chapter completed!