After Zhuge Dan retreated to Xia Cai, he did not rush to return to Shouchun. In his opinion, Xia Cai's defense is also particularly important. As long as he can defend Xia Cai, the Sima army will not be able to cross the Huai River easily and will not be able to easily threaten Shouchun's safety. Therefore, Xia Cai, who is defending Huaibei, is the most critical existence to protect Huainan.

Therefore, even though Zhuge Dan suffered a major failure on Ying, he still led the defeated generals to Xia Cai. Zhuge Dan's intention was very obvious, that was, to use the fortress-style fortress like Xia Cai to drag the Sima army to Huaibei, so that he could not cross the river and attack Shouchun with all his might, thereby ensuring the safety of Shouchun.

The defenses between Shouchun and Xia Cai are mutually supportive. The Huaihe River is like a shoulder pole, carrying Shouchun on one end and Xia Cai on the other. Whether the Sima army attacks Xia Cai or attacks Shouchun, it will be restrained and affected.

According to normal circumstances, after Ying Shang’s victory, Sima Lun will definitely continue to advance eastward and try to force the Huai River. However, after Zhuge Dan withdraws his troops to Xia Cai, Xia Cai will also become a nail that Sima’s army must remove. If this nail is not removed, it will inevitably affect the food safety of Sima’s army. No matter how strong Sima Lun is, he will not be able to cross the Huai River safely.

But does Sima Jun really have the ability to conquer Xia Cai?

Perhaps many people think this is not a difficult problem. Before the Battle of Ying Shang, there may be questions, but after the Battle of Ying, the questions disappeared. Zhuge Dan's 80,000 troops were defeated and returned. How could a mere small city resist the subsequent attack of Sima's army?

But Zhuge Dan didn't think so that Xia Cai City was just a small city on the north bank of the Huai River, and it was unknown. What's more, the previous Huainan commanders regarded Eastern Wu as the number one target of countermeasures, so even if they were to build cities, they would build border towns adjacent to Wu. The city like Xia Cai, which was deep in the rear, was completely out of their consideration.

For example, Hefei New City was built by the Yangzhou Governor Man Chong. If Zhuge Dan had not given up on him this time, the people of Wu would probably not have seen what the new city looked like until their death.

But Zhuge Dan was obviously different from others. After he was promoted to the governor of Yangzhou, he not only took the initiative to withdraw Xincheng and executed Zhang Te, who was the most active in fighting against the Wu people, but also sent people to build Xia Cai in large quantities since he took office, and built Xia Cai into a solid fortress similar to Xincheng.

It is obvious that Zhuge Dan regarded the Sima family as his number one enemy, so he carefully built the Xia Cai Fortress. After witnessing Wang Ling's death, Zhuge Dan felt extremely afraid of the Sima family. He knew that even if he had the current status, it was just a blush. The Sima family had the power to kill and seize life and death, and could deprive him of everything, including his life, at any time.

Instead of pinning hope on the kindness of others, it is better to do some practical things down-to-earth. In order to protect Shouchun, Xia Cai Fortress came into being. This is also the embodiment of Zhuge Dan's active defense, defending the enemy outside the national gates, and also laying the foundation for Zhuge Dan to expand his power towards Yuzhou.

You know, Zhuge Dan’s ambition is not just as simple as defending Huainan. If he has the chance, he will also enter the Central Plains and show his great fortune.

Xia Cai is located north of the Huai River, just like the tentacles stretched out from Huainan. They can attack and retreat or defend, so even if they encounter major setbacks on Ying, Zhuge Dan did not give up Xia Cai easily and led the remaining troops to garrison here, vowing to Sima Lun to decide life and death again.

Zhuge Dan even prepared for a bloody battle. Due to Ying Shang's failure, it became difficult to defend Xia Cai, but Zhuge Dan had no way out at this time. If he wanted to defend Shouchun, he had to defend Xia Cai first.

But at this time, Sima's army did not continue to advance eastward, but suddenly withdrew after the battle at Yingshang.

Originally, he took advantage of the great situation of victory and pursuit, why did Sima Lun suddenly give up? Zhuge Dan was confused and felt a little incredible. The one who benefited the most from Sima Lun withdrew his troops was undoubtedly Zhuge Dan. Even if the Sima Army launched another attack at intervals, Zhuge Dan, who won some breathing opportunities, must be much better in his condition than now.

After just experiencing a defeat, the Huainan Army was the most difficult time, with shortage of personnel, equipment, incomplete organization, and low morale. These wounds often require time to be repaired. If Sima Lun launched an attack in one go, it would inevitably bring endless pressure to Zhuge Dan.

But Simalun actually gave up such a great situation in vain, which made Zhuge Dan, who has always been experienced, puzzled and felt that it was impossible.

But the facts were right in front of him. Sima's army really had to retreat. The scout sent by Zhuge Dan proved this clearly. Could it be that this was Sima Lun's plan and that he would continue to lure Zhuge Dan to attack?

However, Zhuge Dan's current defeated brigade, even if the Sima army really wants to withdraw its troops, he is willing but powerless and does not have the conditions to pursue. Sima Lun should be very clear about this. If he uses a trick, it is purely playing the piano against a cow.

If Simalun did not use fraud, then withdrawing troops would be real, but why was Simalun so anxious to withdraw troops?

The biggest possibility is the problem on the Yellow River defense line. If the Bingzhou Army launches an attack at this time, the Sima Army will be unable to resist, so it will urgently be transferred Sima Lun to the north for rescue.

It seems that this is the only reasonable explanation, otherwise it would not make sense from other perspectives. Simalun easily gave up when he saw victory, and no one would be willing to be willing.

No matter what, Sima Lun's withdrawal was a huge favorable news for Zhuge Dan. In this way, Zhuge Dan had time to reorganize the army and replenish his strength. When Sima's army attacked again, Zhuge Dan dared not say that he could recover all of them, but at least he could recover to 70% or 80% of the level. In this way, Zhuge Dan's confidence in guarding Huainan will be back.

But before Zhuge Dan was calm, another shocking news came from Shouchun, that is, the Wu army suddenly launched a large-scale army and surrounded Shouchun. Zhuge Liang led his army to fight fiercely and sent people to ask Zhuge Dan for help.

Zhuge Dan's heart, which had just fallen into his stomach, was now in his throat. At this critical moment, the Wu people stabbed him in the back. It was really a wave of failure, and it was rising again and again!
Chapter completed!