Chapter 209: Big defeat and big victory
Chapter 209 Big defeat and big victory
July, midsummer.
In the early morning, Zhao Wang Zhao Qian was wearing a black royal robe with dark red shading, and sat on the throne with a straight back.
He tried to keep calm and majesty on his face, as if to maintain a king, the last dignity and to hide the fear in his heart.
But the blue eye rims and pale face all revealed his true state.
Qin soldiers forced Handan, Zhao Qian couldn't sleep deeply for many days, his spirit was extremely poor, and he was increasingly sluggish:
"Is there no news from the Wei people yet? What about the other countries, any news from the other countries?"
In the main hall of the court meeting, the ministers looked at each other.
Now that Zhao wants to retreat from Qin, the best way is to use external forces, hoping that Wei, Qi, Chu and other countries can help Zhao.
Many days ago, letters from Zhao people asking for troops from various countries were sent from Handan like snowflakes.
An old official came out: "We have no news to send back, the new king of Chu has ascended the throne, and the king of Chunshen, Huang Xie, is also mourned, and the country is in turmoil.
As for Yan... The Yan people took advantage of the situation to raise their troops, and three days ago, they rushed to attack me on the southern line of Zhaojing. "
Zhao Qian was frightened and angry: "Yan took the opportunity to invade my Da Zhao, really a thief will not die."
added: "All countries are short-sighted people who are short-sighted. Don't they know the truth that lips and teeth depend on each other. If Qin kills my great Zhao, how can Wei Qi and other countries be spared?"
He got up and staggered away, leaving the main hall of the previous dynasty.
Guo Kai stepped out of the group of ministers and quickly caught up.
In the bedroom of the apse, Zhao Qian was lying on his back on the couch.
In the past few days, he has often felt unwell, and he has acute fever. Sometimes he is awake, and sometimes he feels drowsy.
Guo Kai stood beside the couch and waited silently.
Soon after, there was an attendant who walked in quickly: "Your Majesty, Lord Qin has sent me another letter."
Zhao Qian sneered: "He just wants to humiliate me again... The few people don't read his letter."
At the beginning of the war, Zhao Huaizhong sent letters to King Zhao and Li Mu respectively.
King Zhao felt that Zhao Huaizhong was humiliating him.
Later, when Li Mu defeated Fan Yuqi, the king of Zhao publicly announced to the world that Li Mu had killed tens of thousands of Qin troops, in response to Zhao Huaizhong's first letter.
At this time, Zhao Huaizhong sent a second letter, the purpose of which was to persuade surrender.
This is also the way to attack a country, to show the kindness of the monarch to the world.
If the monarch is cruel and inhumane, it will definitely be the desperate resistance of the other party.
And if the monarch is kind enough, people don't have to work hard, and the resistance to many things will be much less.
What's more important is that if the Zhao people's clan descends, the resistance to Qin occupying Zhao's land and then governing Zhao's realm will be greatly reduced.
"Your Majesty."
Guo Kai glanced at the letter that was brought over by the servant and was ordered to be destroyed by Zhao Qian: "Your Majesty asked the spy to be arranged by Li Mu's side, and sent back the news that King Qin had also sent letters to Li Mu, and there were more than one letter."
Zhao Qian was lying on the couch, dazed.
But when he heard this sentence, he suddenly turned over and sat up, and said sharply:
"King Qin also sent a letter to Li Mu? Could it be that he still wants to persuade Li Mu to surrender... How did Li Mu respond?"
Guo Kai lowered his head: "I don't know."
Zhao Qian's thoughts fluctuated.
Before his father Zhao Yan died, Li Mu led his army to garrison at the border and confronted the Qin people.
Afterwards, there was also a secret agent that King Zhao placed in Li Mu's army, who once sent back news that Li Mu resented the clan because of Pang Nuan's death, and sat watching the emperor's boat enter the country, but did not stop it.
Li Mu's inaction indirectly led to Zhao Yan's death.
In this war, Li Mu refused to listen to the dispatch several times, and Zhao Qian sent him back after more than ten edicts when he returned to defend Handan.
"Does Li Mu have the heart of not being a minister and dare to betray the widow..."
Zhao Qian thought in a dazed way. Once doubtful thoughts were born, they would grow like wild grass, and it was hard to restrain...
"Guo Qing thinks, will Li Mu betray the widow?"
Guo Kai: "Your Majesty might as well take a strategy to test whether Li Mu is loyal to Your Majesty."
Zhao Qian asked, "What is Guo Qing's strategy?"
—
Mid-July.
The Qin army was divided into two groups again. Yang Rui and his troops were in the territory of the Zhao people, detouring and detouring, interspersed like sharp swords, avoiding Li Mu, and continuing to put pressure on Handan and harass the Zhao capital.
Wang Jian led the main force and competed with Li Mu's troops.
Li Mu still intends to implement the strategy he had formulated before, and the advantageous location of the city makes it difficult for the Qin army to break through.
But at this moment, Zhao Qian, the king of Zhao, sent Zhao Cong from the clan and Yan Ju, a general who had defected from Qi, and came to Li Mu's army camp.
asked to replace Li Mu and his lieutenant Sima Shang.
Zhao Cong brought Zhao Qian's edict, asking Li Mu and Sima Shang to hand over their military power, and Zhao Cong and Yan Ju were appointed as the chief and deputy generals, and continued to lead the troops to confront Qin.
Li Mu was speechless, his hands and feet were cold.
Zhao Huaizhong's letter to him before, actually foresaw what happened to him now.
In the letter: Zhao Qian was dazed and suspicious. If the battle situation was unfavorable, he would definitely suspect that there was a problem with Li Mu's military strategy, and even directly relieve him of his military power.
This scene really happened.
Li Mu's thoughts turned sharply.
Zhao Huaizhong's letter also mentioned that when the previous Zhao King, Zhao Yan, died, the human emperor boat was put into Zhao Jing from the city where Li Mu was stationed.
This move is the bane of Zhao Qian's no longer trusting Li Mu.
The things correspond to what Zhao Huaizhong said, one by one, and they are almost the same. This made Li Mu suddenly think clearly: King Qin had been planning since the previous king was killed... Most of what happened after that was what he expected.
Thinking of Zhao Huaizhong's early layout and accurate insight, Li Mu shuddered.
He turned his head to look at Zhao Cong and Yan Ju, who were about to take over his military power. He pondered for a while, and resolutely drove Zhao Cong and the two out of the barracks. Order.
This is obviously different from Li Mu's acceptance of the king's order and his unjust death in the end.
But at this point, Li Mu could no longer implement the strategy he insisted on, and he had to speed up the progress of the battle, otherwise he would have to face Zhao Qian's follow-up censure, and the situation would be even more unbearable.
He personally led his army out of the city and fought with Wang Jian's troops.
noon.
North of Handan.
Plain.
Qin and Zhao fought bravely against each other, and the people were full of people, and the flags were spread out on the wasteland, fluttering like a wave.
In the low drumbeat, the Qin army was aggressive.
The rolling formation, the mountain guard formation, the long Ge formation... The army formation changed, and it was fully pressing on the Zhao army.
In the sky, the Totem Xuanniao and the phoenix bird contracted by Zhao Jun spit flames at each other, and the powerful mana fluctuates, causing birds and beasts to lie dormant within a hundred miles.
As time went on, Zhao Jun's casualties continued to increase, gradually showing a decline.
At dusk, when Ming Jin withdraws his troops, Li Mu's face is solemn.
Over the next few days, the two countries clashed several times.
Li Mu even sent out surprise troops, trying to save the battle, but unfortunately the results were very limited.
By the end of July, the Qin army's additional troops became the last straw that overwhelmed the battle.
Nei Shi Teng dispatched Qin troops from the original Han land, the current Yingchuan County, and all over the Qin territory, totaling nearly 100,000 troops, and suddenly entered the battlefield.
When Qin initially decided to attack Zhao, he established a huge Qin army with a total number of more than 300,000.
Wang Jian's troops attacked 200,000 people in front, and Yang Rui and his troops supported more than 30,000 elites and main forces.
Nei Shi Teng's troops were not visible at first, and they have been preparing for it.
Until this moment, he suddenly plunged into the battlefield, joined with Wang Jian's troops, and defeated Li Mu's last resistance in one fell swoop.
Early August.
Nearly 300,000 Qin soldiers were spread out on horses, 800 miles away from Handan, in the shape of a pincer, divided into three roads, with thousands of chariots, more than 10,000 crossbows, nearly 100,000 cavalry and 200,000 infantry.
Where the army is located, the murderous aura emanating will disperse the clouds in the sky.
brush!
Hundreds of thousands of people fired in salvo, and arrows covered the Zhaojing city like rain.
Every 100,000 Qin troops form a team, forming a combined attack technique to construct a totem black dragon and a mysterious bird, covering the sky and the sun.
The defense system of the city was crumbling under the flame attack of the black bird.
Then there was a loud noise, the ground cracked, and the city collapsed.
But the totem black dragon slammed into the city wall, carrying ten thousand gravity, completely destroying the defense of the city.
The formations carved in various places in the city were all broken, and even twisted ravines appeared on the ground.
On the city wall, Li Mu's face was pale, and Sima Shang fell to his knees in despair.
Da Zhao is finished.
What Li Mu lost was not the military strategy, but the national strength, military strength, and armament of the two countries. Zhao was far behind Qin.
The Qin army was in the rear, and Wang Jian overlooked the city.
"General, there is something unclear about the low post." Nei Sten asked.
Wang Jian said: "But why didn't you directly let your subordinates join me at the beginning, and attack Zhao with 300,000 soldiers?"
Nei Sten said: "Exactly, if we attacked Zhao with 300,000 soldiers at the beginning, we might be able to break through Li Mu's block earlier."
Wang Jian said: "This is the decision of the king, the king is considering a longer-term goal, and many things must be promoted by attacking Zhao.
Including after the attack on Zhao, how to appease the Zhao people, and even attack other countries need to be arranged early.
And at the beginning, the fighting spirit of the Zhao people was far lower than it is now. At that time, the army was overwhelmed, and the consumption must be several times higher than it is now.
It is precisely because your troops can’t hide, that I, Da Qin, always have spare strength, so that the Wei people who are about to be overwhelmed do not dare to send troops to join the war, otherwise how can they attack Zhao with peace of mind?
So your troops are not suitable sooner or later, this is the best time. "
Nei Sten understands something.
In early August, the Qin army broke through the city of gu, which is 800 miles away from Handan.
Zhao general Li Mu gave up his resistance after the defeat and was captured by the Qin army.
The next day, the Qin army advanced.
The king of Zhao again sent Zhao Cong and Yan Ju, two generals, to lead the remnants of the Zhao people to try to defend against the Qin army.
was pushed all the way by Wang Jian, and after a few days, Zhao Cong was evenly defeated, and Yan gathered two soldiers and horses.
By this time, the general trend of the Zhao people was gone.
At the end of August, another road, Yang Rui and his troops, also broke through the Zhao people, two hundred miles away from Handan, joined forces with Wang Jian, and approached Handan with an unstoppable momentum.
Zhaojing is already in a state of collapse across the board.
At this time, there was chaos in the city of Handan, and all the officials of the Zhao people were terrified, and there were many people who abandoned the city and fled.
Outside the city, the Qin army camped after dusk.
It is less than a hundred miles away from Handan, and we will be able to reach the foot of Handan city tomorrow.
In a tent in the military camp, Li Mu looked calmly at Wang Jian, who had lifted the curtain and entered: "General Wang has a flaw to come to see my defeated general."
Wang Jian said modestly: "Among the military generals in the world, only General Li Mu fought in his life, mostly against the Huns and foreigners. Wang Jian is ashamed of himself, and only admires General Li.
In the battle of Qin and Zhao, what General Li lost was the gap in national strength between the two countries, which could not be filled by manpower. "
Li Mu sighed: "Why are the defeated generals so brave? I let you and others be captured. I want to go to Xianyang to see the King of Qin at the end, and I want to ask him face-to-face about some things."
Wang Jian turned to lift the curtain of the tent, and Zhao Huaizhong walked in proudly from the door.
Li Mu's body shook, he didn't expect Zhao Huaizhong to suddenly appear here.
He slowly got up: "King Qin."
"This is a dharma body of mine, not a deity, but this dharma body has the same consciousness as the widow. Please take a seat, general, but it's okay to say something."
Zhao Huaizhong took his seat in the account, while Wang Jian stood behind him.
(end of this chapter)