Zhonghui established a large defensive network around Yecheng, stretching from Handan in the north, Anyang in the south, Wei County in the east, and Shexian in the west, in addition to strengthening these cities into fortresses, and between these cities, deep trenches were dug criss-crossed to block the cavalry attack.

  Once Yecheng is besieged, internal and external traffic is cut off, the people in the city are panicked, and it is bound to be difficult to defend for a long time, and strengthen the defense of Yecheng's periphery, and resist the enemy from a hundred miles away, so that the elasticity of Yecheng's defense is greater.

  Moreover, Zhonghui took Yecheng as the center to create a connecting passage from Xindu to Hanoi, and the cities of Nangong, Jingxian, Pingxiang, Julu, Quang Binh, and Quliang on the way will also become important links on this defense route.

  In short, the entire defense network of Jizhou is in a huge T-shape.

  Although the army of Jizhou is numerous, but it can only defend a city, within a span of hundreds of miles, it is difficult to rescue each other, because once the Jizhou army leaves the city, it is likely to be intercepted and pursued by the cavalry of Jizhou, and the infantry does not have any speed at all, once it is bitten by the enemy cavalry, it is difficult to get out.

  Therefore, Zhong Hui handed over the defense of the northern front to Lu Zhao, and he was personally responsible for the defense of Yecheng, he knew that once the war began, Jizhou would be divided into two parts, or even several parts, and at that time, no one could count on anyone, so they could only rely on their own abilities.

  Lu Zhao was basically satisfied with Zhong Hui's arrangement, to be honest, before Zhong Hui arrived, Lu Zhao was originally the leader of Jizhou, and Lu Zhao was in charge of all major affairs, but Zhong Hui suddenly overrode his head, making Lu Zhao very uncomfortable with his usual arrogant instructions, and even had a lot of resentment towards Sima Shi.

  You must know that Lu Zhao is a real descendant of the Sima family, several times he has attacked and merged with the state, he is extraordinarily hardworking, and he is also loyal to the Sima family, it stands to reason that his Jizhou is in charge of the army, and there is nothing wrong with him, so I don't know why Sima Shi does not trust him, and he will actually send Zhong Hui to supervise the three armies and take charge of the military affairs of Jizhou.

  To tell the truth, Lu Zhao is not interested in Zhong Hui, this hairy man does not seem to have any advantages except for being able to write some articles and write a good hand, and he has never heard of him leading soldiers to fight before, but he has been a staff member next to Sima Yi's father and son.

  One mountain can't accommodate two tigers, and Lu Zhao is even more worried that after the arrival of Zhonghui, he will deliberately squeeze himself out, hold the military and political power in Jizhou tightly in his hands, and let him stand aside.

  However, after contact, Lu Zhao felt that his worries were still superfluous, although Zhong Hui was the governor, he did not have any arrogance, and he also respected Lu Zhao, and when it came to the defense of Jizhou, Zhong Hui would often discuss with Lu Zhao first.

  Even Zhong Hui took the initiative to say that he lacked experience in leading troops to fight, and Lu Zhao was a veteran-level general of Wei State, with rich experience in leading troops, and hoped to get his advice.

  Regardless of whether it is polite or not, Lu Zhao is still more useful anyway, and his perception of Zhong Hui has changed greatly.

  This time, Zhong Hui gave him the task of defending the northern line of Jizhou, which made Lu Zhao even more excited, this time there were as many as 150,000 troops under his command, although Lu Zhao was the general of Zhenbei Jizhou, but he really did not command so many people, Zhong Hui entrusted him with a heavy task, Lu Zhao's sense of achievement was particularly strong, and he was also conscientious about this task, and he never slacked off.

  Zhong Hui laughed secretly, before he came to Jizhou, he had heard that Lu Zhao liked to wear a high hat, and a few words of praise from him could make him bow down and use it for himself.

  Now the situation in Jizhou is critical, and it is the time to employ people, Zhong Hui does not want to fight for power and profit to make a mess of the situation in Jizhou, so maintaining a low profile appropriately will help ease some tension between him and Lu Zhao.

  This point is very important, before going to Jizhou, Sima Shi had told him to maintain a good relationship with Lu Zhao and work together to defend Jizhou.

  Zhong Hui knew that his arrival would inevitably affect Lu Zhao's status in Jizhou, originally he was the number one in Jizhou, but now although his position has not changed, but the imperial court sent a bigger official to his head, Lu Zhao's mood is naturally unhappy.

  In Lu Zhao's view, there was no need for the imperial court to set up the governor of Hebei, and even if he wanted to set up this official position, he should be the first choice, and there was no reason to send a person with no experience in war to take this position.

  Therefore, Zhong Hui wisely chose to show favor to Lu Zhao in a weak way, so as to win Lu Zhao's trust, so that many of his actions and arrangements in Jizhou would be less constrained, and it would be much more convenient to do things.

  As for handing over the defense of the northern part of Jizhou to Lu Zhao in charge, it does not mean that Zhong Hui willingly relinquishes the power in his hands, but he has a last resort, because the north and south of Jizhou are relatively far apart, hundreds of miles away, once a war starts, command is indeed a big problem, and it is impossible for Zhong Hui to sit in Yecheng and handle the affairs of the northern defense line in an orderly manner.

  Therefore, the defense of the northern front must be commanded by another person, and in Jizhou, the most suitable person is Lu Zhao.

  Lu Zhao has served in Jizhou for many years, and he is very familiar with the geographical situation of Jizhou, and he has extremely rich combat experience, so he is fully qualified for this post.

  Handed over the defense of the northern line to Lu Zhao, while Lu Zhao was satisfied, Zhong Hui could also take out his hand and deploy the defense circle of Yecheng, Jizhou has a vast area, if Zhong Hui has been staying in Yecheng, it is beyond the reach of the northern line.

  Rather than being unable to control it, it is better to hand over all the defense of the northern front to Lu Zhao to deal with, so that Zhong Hui can concentrate on the defense of Yecheng.

  However, what Lu Zhao is carrying out is only a specific matter, and the matters at the strategic level are still decided by Zhong Hui, and they need to be reported to Sima Shi for approval, and Lu Zhao has no power to change it at all.

  In addition to the defense center of gravity in the north and south of the belt, Zhonghui also focused on arranging heavy troops to guard the various roads of Taihang Mountain, although the state army in Youzhou is the focus of prevention, but the threat from the state is not ignored, if the Jizhou army gathers heavy troops and goes south to the state for a decisive battle, the west kills the state army in the back stabbed, then the situation is not very good.

  Therefore, Zhonghui deliberately sent troops to strengthen the defense of the Taihang Roads such as Jingcheng Pass, Fukou and Baicheng, and strictly sealed the eastward route of the state army.