In fact, Helu also wanted to attack Chu, but he had to consider the issue from the perspective of national interests, and was not like Wu Zixu and Bo Pu, who were filled with hatred and burning with hatred. He had always been cautious. Helu believed that with Wu
The strength of the country is fully capable of fighting against Chu. The only thing he worries about is that Chu has too many vassal countries, and he is afraid of being attacked by a group of people. Now, the fact that the princes of the eighteen countries are attacking Chu has shown him that Chu
The country has indeed reached the point where everyone has rebelled against their relatives. The fighter plane is right in front of us.
When Sun Wu arrived, Helu immediately asked him to sit down. Then he asked Wu Zixu to explain the pros and cons of attacking Chu. After that, he asked: "General Sun, what do you think?"
Sun Wu said: "Nangwa is attacking Cai. He has taken out almost all the elite troops of Chu and Tang. The capital of Ying is empty. This is an excellent opportunity to fight."
Helu said: "Since General Sun also agrees to fight, let's discuss how to fight."
Wu Zixu wanted to speak, but Helu stopped him with his hands. Then he called Sun Wu and said. Sun Wu thought for a while and then said: "I will propose a method, and then everyone will work together to improve it."
Sun Wu said: "The Chu State has a vast territory and sufficient troops and supplies. We cannot fight a protracted war with them, nor can we trap ourselves. If we want to fight, we must use their surprise to cover up their unpreparedness and fight quickly."
Helu nodded and said: "You are right. May I ask, what is the strategy?"
Sun Wu said: "Divide the troops into two groups. One group goes north along the Huaihe River in the name of rescuing Cai State. It first relieves the siege of Cai and Tang, and then unites the troops of Wu, Cai and Tang. They advance rapidly from northeast to southwest to catch the enemy unawares.
Quickly capture the three passes and tunnels in the north of Chu State, Zhiyuan and Ming'e, then bypass the Dabie Mountains, reach the north bank of the Han River, and approach the capital of Ying."
Sun Wu finished speaking in one breath and paused. Wu Zixu asked eagerly: "Is there another way?"
Sun Wu said: "The other road is fought from south to west, breaking Qingmai Pass and Songzi Pass, and advancing towards the Han River through deep mountains and dense forests. The two armies meet at the Han River and then attack the capital of Ying. The north and south roads can echo each other and form a pincer attack.
.”
Helu clapped his hands and said: "General Sun is really a god. Just fight like this."
Wu Zixu also said: "This plan is very clever." Bo Pi also agreed. So a strategy to attack Chu was decided.
Sun Wu said: "The northern part of the Chu State is vast and sparsely populated, and its defense is weak. If we concentrate our forces in the north, the main force of the Chu army will inevitably move northward, and then our southern route army can take advantage of the weakness. If the north and south are attacked at the same time, the Chu people will inevitably move head and tail.
You can’t have both.”
Wu Zixu added: "When the Northern Route Army attacks, it should not move forward blindly. It should advance, stop, or retreat. In this way, the people of Chu will be confused, and they will deal with both sides and be exhausted."
Helu said: "You will discuss the specific operations in detail. Tomorrow we will split them up and make sure that there is no leakage."
In 506 BC, Helu personally took command, appointed Sun Wu as general, Wu Zixu and Bo Pei as deputy generals, and ordered Helu's brother Fugai to be the vanguard. He sent more than 30,000 land and water divisions to the north and south. From then on.
Provoked a war between Wu and Chu.
The North Route Army was the main force, commanded by Helu and commanded by Sun Wu and Wu Zixu. It marched towards Cai and Tang. The South Route Army was led by Helu's brother-in-law and headed straight for Qingmaishuan in Chu State.
Let's talk about the road to Helu. They spread the news all the way, saying that they were trying to save Cai and the Tang Dynasty and wanted to expel the Chu army. Ten days later, the Northern Route Army entered Cai State. The Chu army was defeated in consecutive battles.
Nangwa was caught off guard. Seeing that the Wu army was approaching fiercely, and he had troops in Cai and Tang, he expected to be defeated. So he quickly gathered his troops and horses, gave up the few small towns he had occupied, and hurried back. Withdraw. It only took the Wu army three to five days to recover the city occupied by the Chu army.
Cai Zhaohou and Tang Chenggong came to welcome Helu with gifts, slaughtered cattle and sheep, and rewarded the three armies. Helu asked them to mobilize soldiers and horses from all over the country to join the crusade against Chu. The two monarchs readily agreed. So the Wu army rested for a while. On the same day, Sun Wu joined forces with the troops of the Three Kingdoms and marched at a rapid pace towards the Chu State's Great Tunnel.
Just as Sun Wu predicted, the Chu people did not expect that Wu would attack Chu, so the defenses at the Big Tunnel, Zhiyuan, and Ming'e passes were lax, and the troops of Wu, Cai, and Tang broke through without any effort. .
The armies of the Three Kingdoms marched straight in. After arriving at Huairu (today's Fengtai, Anhui), Sun Wu ordered Shezhou to land. The march route was changed to the south.
Wu Zixu asked: "The Wu army is good at water warfare, so why did they abandon their boats and go overland?"
Sun Wu said: "Soldiers need speed. We should choose a route that the Chu people did not expect. This is called surprise. The speed of sailing against the current is too slow, which means that the Chu army has time to mobilize and fortify, so there is no way to attack." "
Wu Zixu smiled and said: "The general really knows how to use troops."
After the coalition forces entered the northern part of Chu State, they cut and captured passes all the way and were invincible. Sun Wu had long trained a vanguard battalion composed of 500 strong men, specifically for attacking cities and seizing passes. He also trained a 3,000-man rapid-fire force. Interspersed with troops, they were used to outflank and circumvent. These 3,000 men were all strong, with extraordinary foot strength, and were good at running. They could cooperate with 500 strong men to attack from both sides. Sun Wu used these 3,500 men to fight in the front line, and the army followed up to support him, and he successively dug large tunnels, straight to the shaft. , three passes of Ming'e. (all at the junction of Henan and Hubei provinces)
Nangwa hurriedly sent Chu general Shen Yinrong to intercept, but Shen Yinrong lost the battle and retreated steadily. The coalition forces took advantage of the victory and went deep into the hinterland of the Chu state. Within ten days, they reached the east bank of the Han River and completed a strategic surprise attack on the Chu state.
At this time, the southern route army arrived at the east of Hanshui River as scheduled, and the northern and southern armies joined together, becoming increasingly powerful.
Two days later, Nang Wa personally led the main force of the Chu army. Sun Wu avoided his attack and took the initiative to retreat from the east bank of the Han River. Nang Wa believed that the long-distance attack of the three kingdoms of Wu, Cai, and Tang was exhausted, so he led his army in pursuit. As far as Baishan Mountain and Jiushui area.
In 506 BC, on November 18 of the lunar calendar, the allied forces of Wu, Cai, and Tang stopped retreating and faced off with the Chu army across the river. By now, Nangwa had fallen into Sun Wu's trick of luring the enemy, but he didn't know it.
During the confrontation between the two armies, a coup occurred in Yingdu. This coup was caused by the internal division of the Nangwa Group. Due to Nangwa's many years of autocratic power, he was unpopular. In addition, he was suspicious by nature and did not trust others, so in the Wu army Under the situation of continuous victory, the forces opposed to Nangwa took the opportunity to start an uprising and suppressed the other part of the Nangwa forces that remained in the court.
When the news came, Nangwa was in a state of confusion. He was now in a dilemma. He could not advance and win, and his retreat would collapse. What troubled him the most was that he had a heavy army but could not go back to quell the rebellion.
The vanguard of the Wu army, Fu Gai, saw that Sun Wu was standing still and became anxious. He ran to King Helu of Wu to ask for a battle and said: "Zichang (Zichang, also known as Zichang) has always been unjust, and few of his subordinates are willing to sacrifice their lives for him. Now the Chu army is waiting and watching.
If they don't move forward, it shows that they are powerless. We should seize the opportunity to take the initiative and attack. We will defeat them in one fell swoop."
Helu said: "General Sun has an order, no one is allowed to attack without authorization. You also know that General Sun's order is serious, please retreat."
Fugai had not secured the position of general before this expedition, and his position was still lower than that of Wu Zixu, so he felt uncomfortable. Along the way, he saw that Helu was obedient to Sun Wu and Wu Zixu's advice, and he was even more dissatisfied. After returning to the camp,
He said to his generals: "The fighter plane is right in front of you. As a vanguard, I should act according to the opportunity without waiting for orders. The generals immediately return to the camp to prepare. The horses have enough fodder and the soldiers have enough food. Tonight, follow me to attack the Chu camp.
.”
That night, Husband led his 5,000 troops to sneak across Jiushui and launched a fierce attack on the Chu army. Nangwa was unprepared, and the Chu army was suddenly in chaos. In the dark night, Nangwa was not interested in fighting, and only took care of the Chu army with a small number of troops.
Escape for your life. As soon as the commander fled, the Chu army became even more confused, and was defeated by Fugai's 5,000 troops.
Helu heard that Fugai had crossed the Jushui River, and was worried that he would go deep alone, so he quickly ordered the entire army to follow up. When the coalition forces were crossing the river, they caught up with Fugai's surprise attack, so Sun Wu and Wu Zixu commanded a large group of troops to join the battle. Chu
The army soon fell apart. Chu general Shi Huang died in battle.
Nangwa escaped. He knew that the situation was over. He did not dare to return to Yingdu, but there was no other place to go. There were enemies of Chu everywhere in the world. After thinking about it, there was only Zheng who was easy to bully. So he
So he handed over the military power to his deputy general and fled to the state of Zheng with a few followers.
In the battle of Bai Ju, the Wu Allied Forces won a complete victory. Fugai made the first contribution, but in terms of faults, he was also the first.
Sun Wu asked Helu to punish Fugai according to military law, but Helu disagreed. He said: "Fugai has made the first contribution. I think the merits are balanced by the demerits. If no merit is recorded, no punishment will be given."
Sun Wu said: "If everyone wants to balance their merits and demerits, those who are lucky will be restrained repeatedly in the future. The army will not be able to restrain them."
Helu's face darkened and he said, "If you don't reward your merits, who will fight to the death in the future?"
Sun Wu did not give in, saying: "If you disobey orders, you will not be punished. How can we restrain our soldiers in the future?"
Helu's eyes widened and he wanted to have a fit. Wu Zixu tugged at the corner of Sun Wu's clothes and advised him to shut up, but Sun Wu still wanted to say more.
Helu's fire jumped up, and he said angrily: "I am in charge of the troops of the state of Wu. I don't have the final say. Do you have the final say?"
Sun Wu was speechless for a moment. At that moment, he felt that Helu was a tyrant at best, and his ambition and philosophy of running an army were completely different from his own. Sun Wu said angrily: "As a general, if I can't command, I know it will be difficult for me to lead the army.
.Therefore, I request to resign as general."
Helu was furious, and his face turned livid after hearing this. Wu Zixu hurriedly stepped forward to persuade him. Helu suppressed his anger, changed his tone, and asked Sun Wu not to act out of emotion. The two tried to persuade Sun Wu to stay, but Sun Wu reluctantly agreed not to leave, but
He said that he would only be a military advisor and no longer a general.
Wu Zixu succeeded Sun Wu as the commander-in-chief. With a heart full of hatred, he led the allied forces of Wu, Cai, and Tang to pursue the victory and attack fiercely. After the Chu army left Nangwa, its morale was scattered. Under the violent attack of the allied forces, the Yue army fell.
The battle became more and more depressing. The coalition forces had five battles and five victories, and within a few days they reached the vicinity of Yingdu.
People in the capital city of Ying were panic-stricken, with defeated soldiers and refugees everywhere, and the situation was chaotic. Seeing that Ying could not be saved, King Zhao of Chu handed over the government affairs to his trusted ministers Zixi and Ziqi, and fled to Suiguo first.
King Chu Zhao fled, and the Wu army rushed into the city. Zixi and Ziqi escaped from the city among the refugees. At this point, the capital of Chu, which had been the capital for nearly two hundred years, fell into the hands of an enemy for the first time.
The War between Wu and Chu was a great battle during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, in which the Chu State ended in a disastrous defeat. King Zhao of Chu abandoned the capital and fled, which meant that the Chu State was temporarily destroyed.
That night, Helu and his generals held a banquet in King Chu Zhao's court to celebrate their victory. That night, Helu slept in King Chu Zhao's palace.
Three days after the celebration, Wu Zixu suggested to Helu that the ancestral temple of Chu be demolished and the territory of Chu be included in the territory of Wu. Sun Wu disagreed, so he suggested that Helu depose King Zhao of Chu and establish Prince Jian's son Gongzi Sheng.
Become king and retain the Kingdom of Chu.
Wu Zixu said: "The Chu State is thousands of miles away, with fertile land and a large population. Once such great rivers and mountains are obtained, how can they be restored?"
Sun Wu said: "Although we have captured the capital of Ying and driven away the King of Chu, this does not mean that Chu is completely finished. The local forces in Chu have not been eliminated. The most cost-effective way to control Chu is to let the prince win.
Become a puppet, use Chu people to govern Chu people, and turn Chu into a subsidiary of Wu."
But Helu wanted the land of Chu State. So he adopted Wu Zixu's suggestion and ordered the ancestral temple of Chu State to be demolished.
In the eyes of the ancients, the ancestral temple is the spiritual home of a clan. To demolish the ancestral temple of a country's royal family means to uproot the roots of that country. Helu means to uproot the foundation of the Chu royal family, leaving them nowhere to worship.
Mentally, he became a homeless wandering soul. Therefore, he asked Wu Zixu to do it himself.
Wu Zixu demolished the ancestral temple of King Chu and proposed to Helu that he wanted to find the tomb of King Ping of Chu to avenge him. Helu naturally fulfilled his wish.
Someone told Wu Zixu that the tomb of King Ping of Chu was in the Liaotai Lake area outside the east gate of Yingdu City, so he led his troops to search for it. But he couldn't find it despite searching.
One night, Wu Zixu's men and horses were resting by the Liotai Lake. He went out alone, knelt by the water, looked up at the sky, and cried: "Heaven above, if you have mercy on me, let me find the tomb of King Hun.
I have avenged my great revenge. Please ask God to have mercy on me."
At this time, an old man came. He said to Wu Zixu: "General, there is no need to howl. Come with me. I know where the tomb of King Chu Ping is."
Wu Zixu asked: "How did you know?"
The old mason said: "I was the mason who built the tomb of King Chu Ping. King Chu Ping was worried that someone would rob the tomb in the future. So when the tomb was repaired, he killed all the masons who built the tomb. I was the lucky one to escape."
Under the leadership of the old stoneworker, Wu Zixu found the tomb of King Chu Ping. He ordered his soldiers to dig up the tomb and drag out King Chu Ping's bones.
When the coffin was opened, the soldiers saw the corpse wearing the king's clothes. They were all frightened and retreated. Wu Zixu ordered the corpse to be dragged out of the coffin. Then he walked up with a bronze whip in hand and looked at the corpse.
The body, which still exuded majesty because it was wrapped in the king's clothes, sneered, picked up a copper whip, and struck it all over the head and face. The beating became harder and harder, and the more the beating became angrier. Over the years, the hatred accumulated in his heart was turned into a whip.
Vent one whip after another.
Wu Zixu whipped him three hundred times in one breath, beating King Chu Ping's bones into pieces. At the end of the beating, he was tired, threw away the copper whip, knelt on the ground, and cried loudly. While crying, he chanted to comfort his father and brother.
Revenge has been avenged.
Suddenly, a whirlwind came from halfway up the slope. The whirlwind was like a pillar, twisting and turning, whirring, and coming towards Wu Zixu. When it arrived in front of Wu Zixu, it suddenly accelerated and spun. In the blink of an eye, Wu Zixu
It was wrapped in the wind column. I could see dust, dead leaves and corpse fragments scattered on the ground rising up with the wind, spinning faster and faster, forming a huge crooked wind column, rising into the air. It was impossible to see it.
The soldiers were stunned when they saw Wu Zixu's figure. Some people were lying on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.
After a while, the whirlwind passed. Wu Zixu was still kneeling in the same place, his hair was blown into a pile of tangled grass, and his beard and hair were covered with dust and fragments of bones. The fragments of King Chu Ping's bones that were scattered on the ground had long been
There's not much left.
Some people had an ominous premonition, but of course, no one dared to say it out loud. Wu Zixu wiped the dust off his face, stood up, struck a copper whip with his hand, and waved the team down the mountain.
When he reached Liotai Lake, he went to the lake to wash his face, tidy up his messy hair, and then wash the copper whip. After doing this, he took a long breath and continued back with his soldiers and horses.
Go. At this time, he felt relieved.
When Sun Wu heard about this, he was surprised at first, and then didn't say anything. However, everyone could see that he looked worried. Helu and Bopu were different. They came to congratulate Wu Zixu happily and congratulated him on his great revenge.