The Wei and Wu armies, which were originally fighting inextricably on the stone road, entered into a confrontation, but miraculously ceased fighting. They each defended their positions and did not attack each other, maintaining a stalemate.

After Zhu Ran succeeded Zhuge Ke, the Wu army quickly withdrew its defenses from Shiting and Longfeng. As a result, the frontline confrontation between the two sides no longer existed, and Sima Yi had the idea of ​​​​retreating.

This expedition has already taken half a year, and Sima Yi has been away from the court for half a year. For Sima Yi, this is indeed too long. The further away from the center of political power, the more dangerous it is. Sima Yi can't

He was willing to surrender his power, so he presented to the court, stated the current situation of the war, and asked the court to allow him to cease fighting and return to the army.

Whether it is fighting against Shu, fighting against Wu or pacifying Liaodong, these are just to gain political capital for Sima Yi. Even if Sima Yi destroys the state of Wu, he will only get some meritorious service at most. If he wants to gain a foothold in the Luoyang court, he can

Don't be too far away from the emperor.

Sima Yi's mission this time is to relieve the siege of Huainan and repel the invading enemies of Wu. This task is simple and clear. There is no plan to counterattack Wu. Now the Wei army has occupied Wu's territory that was originally at the junction of Wu and Wei.

The state's stone clamps drove the Wu army out of Wei's territory.

Zhu Ran's withdrawal this time has vaguely revealed Wu's attitude, that is, it has given up on the Northern Expedition. Unless Wei is determined to take advantage of the victory and fight deep into Wu, retreating is already inevitable.

elected.

Sima Yi obviously had the intention to give up as soon as possible. After all, the Wei State was not ready to counterattack the Wu State this time. Although Wancheng was close at hand, the Wu army was heavily guarded and had assembled heavy troops in Wancheng. The Wei army wanted to take advantage of it.

Going down to Wancheng and taking another step forward is still full of difficulties.

Every attack of the Wu State was sloppy, started but ended in a hurry, and always wanted a quick victory. It was rare that this time it could be delayed for more than half a year.

Obviously, Wu's national strength is not enough to support a protracted war. Moreover, every time Wu attacks, it only plans a local limited war and never wants to develop the war in an unlimited direction.

This proactive withdrawal of troops also meant that Zhu Ran sent a ceasefire signal to Wei.

Sima Yi welcomed this signal, because Sima Yi had no intention of taking the war to an infinite level. He was eager to return home and wanted to withdraw his troops and return to Beijing.

The memorial was delivered, and it was expedited for 600 miles, and could be delivered to the capital in three or four days at most. However, the reply was belatedly arrived, and it took us from the beginning of the month to the end of the month for the imperial edict to arrive.

This time Sima Yi is really going to withdraw his troops and return. After several months of construction, Jia Shi Pass has been newly built, and the stone walls are towering and straight.

Sima Yi stationed a thousand troops at Jia Shi Pass. With this dangerous pass, the Wu army would have to take the east road on the Hefei Plain if they wanted to attack Huainan. They would no longer be able to threaten Lu'an, Anfeng, and Yi.

Yang and other counties have been eliminated, and even Yangzhou Prefecture is relatively safe in Shouchun. After that, if the Wu army wants to attack Shouchun, they must at least capture the important town of Hefei before they can reach Shouchun City.

Moreover, with Jia Shi Pass, the Wei army's retreat became much smoother, and they no longer had to worry about being ambushed by the Wu army during the retreat.

Jia Shi Pass became an insurmountable barrier for the Wu army.

This time the Wei army's evacuation was completely different from the last time. It was orderly and the marching speed was naturally greatly increased. Three days later, they arrived at Anfeng City.

Although Xia Houxuan's injury has not yet recovered, it is no longer serious. He naturally returned to the army of conquering the south and followed the army back to the capital.

As for Wang Ling, he was about to withdraw his troops and return to Shouchun. When they were leaving, Sima Yi held a banquet in Anfeng City to bid farewell to him. Although the two of them had a tacit understanding of each other, they still maintained a harmonious atmosphere on the surface, which was nothing more than submissiveness.

Almost all officers at the level of generals and captains attended this banquet. In another sense, it was also a celebration banquet.

Cao Liang, Xia Houxuan and other generals of the Southern Army were sitting in close proximity. They all drank and congratulated Xia Houxuan on his return.

Xia Houxuan was full of emotions. As a general in the southern expedition, he was injured in the first battle. As a result, he missed many subsequent battles and was unable to catch up with the great battle against Wu.

Counterattack is indeed a pity.

Moreover, during this expedition, the Southern Army paid a heavy price in casualties. Most of the soldiers spilled their blood on the battlefield and rested on this land. You can see how lucky those who survived were.

Although Sima Yi was very enthusiastic about Xiahou Xuan and invited him to sit at the main seat, Xiahou Xuan looked indifferent and calmly rejected Sima Yi's kindness. He would rather sit with Zhengnan Army Paoze than be so kind on the surface.

Sima Yi, a snake and a scorpion, sat together.

In the battle of Anfengdu, although on the surface, Xia Houxuan could not catch Sima Yi, this kind of thing was originally something that could only be understood but could not be explained. Did Sima Yi have any subjective intention to frame Xia Houxuan? Xia Houxuan

I totally know it in my heart.

Even though he can't do anything against Sima Yi now, he can still control his ordinary likes and dislikes. Even if Sima Yi acted with great enthusiasm in front of everyone, Xia Houxuan just wouldn't give him face.

A trace of displeasure flashed in Sima Yi's eyes, but he quickly concealed it. Today's protagonist is still Wang Ling, and Sima Yi still mainly entertains Wang Ling.

Wang Ling was an important opponent in Sima Yi's mind. Although there was no exact evidence, Sima Yi still believed that Wang Ling was closely related to Cao's edict, because the evil spirits who went to deliver the edict that night had appeared in Wang Ling's eyes.

Near the mansion.

Although there were many princes and ministers living on that street, there were absolutely few who had the strength and ability to challenge Sima Yi. Therefore, Sima Yi subjectively believed that the imperial edict must be related to Wang Ling.

Sima Yi naturally didn't know what the content of the edict was, but the more mysterious it was, the more interesting it was. Sima Yi naturally wanted to know what Cao Cao's other arrangement was before his death.

If Cao trusted him, there would be no need to issue any edict. Since Cao had other plans, they must be for him.
Chapter completed!