Chapter 115: The Battle of Lu Chu (2) [Two in One]
After the spring of this year, Xiong Tuoqiu, the king of Yangcheng, the prince of Chu, was blocked in "Pengcheng" last year. Tian Ao, a veteran of the Qi State in winter, thought that his troops would not be able to stop the former's army after the spring began, so he implemented the strategy of "clearing the country". Facing the north, they evacuated to "Xue County" of Lu State, hoping to do their best to buy time for Lu State as much as possible.
When the Qi veteran Tian Ao, Yangcheng Jun Xiong Tuo and other Chu people were mentioned, they were filled with hatred. Who would have thought that the main force of the Chu army that arrived in Pengcheng in the Mid-Autumn Festival last year would be choked to death by a half-cut veteran. Pengcheng - Oh my god, that is Tian Ao, a veteran of the Qi State who is over sixty years old, not his unrivaled son Tian Wu who is the bravest champion in all three armies.
It has to be said that Tian Ao, who is over sixty years old, was once a fierce general like his son Tian Wu, but now his old body can no longer support this general who has spent his life in the military to continue to gallop on the battlefield, but he has accumulated a lot of experience in his life. The experience they gained left Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, and the other Chu people at a loss what to do.
In a frontal attack, Tian Ao took advantage of the dangers of Surabaya to make it difficult for the Chu army, which had an advantage in strength, to advance; but if tactics such as sneak attacks were adopted, the old guy from Qi State could always see the opportunity and see through the tricks of the Chu army.
This made the soldiers and generals of the Chu State realize that the Qi State did not rely entirely on weapons and equipment that were far superior to the Chu State. The war weapons defeated the Chu State. This former hegemonic country also had extremely difficult military commanders. .
Around April, due to the active retreat of Qi veteran Tian Ao, the Chu army took advantage of the opportunity and captured Sishui County, ending the struggle between Chu and Qi for this land in recent decades.
At this time, the situation in Chu State was very good: in the war zone of Donghai County, Chu Shoulingjun Jingyun, Diyang Lord Xiong Li and others were fighting against the Qi army, and gradually gained the upper hand; in the eastern part of Song County, the restoration The puppet Song Dynasty in Tengcheng is currently trembling under the attacks of Wei generals Li Ji, Zhou Kui, and Cai Qinhu; in the land of Wu and Yue, the Yue Kingdom is also retreating steadily under the attacks of Chu General Xiang Kuan.
Regardless of the outcome of the battle between Wei and South Korea, at least in the eastern and southern parts of the Central Plains, the Chu State seems to have become king and hegemon.
"If Wei also wins the war with South Korea, then our "Four-Nation Alliance" can be said to suppress it across the board!"
At the celebration banquet to celebrate the complete control of Sishui County, Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo said with a smile to his generals and the Chudong nobles who came to watch the battle with the army.
Maybe it's because Chu's advantage is too great, or maybe it's because Chu suppressed its old enemy Qi. In short, both Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo and the nobles of Chu East seem to have forgotten all the bad things they did in the past. Intertwined with contradictions and banquets, it's not harmonious.
Within a few days, the detailed information sent by Chu State to South Korea sent the current progress of the "War between Wei and Han" to the hands of Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng. Only then did Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, learn that South Korea and Wei were at the same time. Qin and Qin fought against each other and opened three battlefields at once. Now it is inevitable that it is gradually difficult to support. What's even worse is that Xiong Tuo's cousin-in-law, Zhao Run, the prince of Wei, has actually led nearly 100,000 Wei troops to invade South Korea. hinterland.
Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, was not surprised at all by this.
It's right to think about it. South Korea is trying to counter Wei and Qin on its own. It's almost impossible for South Korea to have any chance of winning. After all, whether Wei or Qin, they are not as weak as Lu, Wei, and Song. Countries, those are all countries that can compete with his Chu State.
After carefully reading the news sent by Xizuo, Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, said with a smile: "Once this battle is over, the two countries of Wei and Chu may divide the Central Plains equally."
In his words, he did not mention Qin and Wei.
Needless to say, Wei Guo, although in this battle, Wei Gong Ziyu also worked very hard to conquer Qi State's Dongjun, but in the final analysis, this is just bullying Qi State and can't take care of them at the moment. If not With Chu State containing the main force of Qi State, how could a small country like Wei State capture Qi State's territory? Even if the Qi State today is no longer the Qi State eight years ago.
As for the Qin State, through various sources, Xiong Tuo, the Lord of Yangcheng, generally knew the war capabilities of the Qin State. However, to be honest, compared with Wei, Chu and other established Central Plains countries, the Qin State obviously still lacked some knowledge.
Of course, Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, just said this casually. In fact, in his heart, he actually preferred Wei to lose the war - if Chu annexed Qi and Lu in this war, but Wei was After suffering a defeat in the war with South Korea, the situation may not be much different.
The situation mentioned here is very different. Of course, it does not mean that Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, will turn around and attack Wei. After all, after Chu annexed Qi and Lu, it will also need time to absorb Qi’s financial resources. Lu’s Technology, there is no need to rush to break up with allies.
Unless the Wei State suffered a disastrous defeat in the war with South Korea and suffered too many losses, and Chu State would have no trouble attacking Qi and Lu, in this case, he would not mind attacking Wei State, his current ally.
After all, Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo is still very afraid of his cousin-in-law Zhao Run. If there is a chance to eliminate this threat, he will definitely take action.
It's a pity that, just like Chu's war situation, Wei's advantage is too stable. It's so stable that Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, really can't think of any chance for South Korea to stop Wei and Qin.
That night, he wrote a letter in his own handwriting and sent it to Shoying, to his brother and now right-hand man, Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang.
The topic mentioned is nothing more than the future of Wei and Chu.
For example, after this war, how will the State of Chu face the State of Wei, and how will it use the financial resources of the State of Qi and the craftsmanship and technology of the State of Lu to enhance its national power and overtake the State of Wei as much as possible.
In late April, Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, originally planned to attack Qi State in one go, but to his surprise, not long after, Qi State paid a lot of money to recruit the world's most reckless rangers and desperadoes. In just half a month, , tens of thousands of people have been recruited, and this number continues to rise.
At this time, Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, realized that it was impossible for his Chu army to capture the Qi State as soon as possible. After all, the Qi State was famous for its richness, and even if he promised a large sum of money, it would be able to sustain him for a long time.
Sure enough, in May, Qi general Tian Wu retreated to Kaiyang in Langya County. He was almost unable to resist Shouling Lord Jingyun's army. Unexpectedly, after receiving the support of those who were known as martial arts warriors, Tian Wu's troops fell from the The number of tens of thousands of people suddenly increased to hundreds of thousands, and they even lost several battles to Shouling Lord Jingyun.
This made Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, secretly resentful: Qi was clearly on the verge of collapse before, but who would have thought that those Qi people used heavy sums of money as bait to lure rogues from all over the world, and the desperadoes were used by them to survive. Why can't we happily accept the end of the country's subjugation?
With all kinds of evil thoughts, Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, had no choice but to lead his army to the direction of Qi.
During this period, Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, was surprised to learn that his general Xiang Mo of Chu and Xiang Pei, the king of Xinyang, were actually killed by Ji Wu, the general of Lu, despite having an army of 200,000. Death is blocked by Qushui.
This simply made Xiong Tuo stunned: Didn't Lu State always have no generals who were good at fighting? How come Ji Wu was able to stop Xiang Mo and Xiang Pei this time?
It wasn't until he received the battle report from Xiang Mo and Xiang Pei that Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, suddenly realized: It turned out that Ji Wu relied on Lu's various war weapons to block Xiang Mo and Xiang Pei.
Therefore, on the way to Qi State, Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, held a military council in the temporary commander's tent, told everyone about the battle situation on Xiang Mo and Xiang Pei's side, and finally said: "The state of Lu is weak, but the state of Lu The country's war weapons cannot be underestimated, so that the two generals Xiang Mo and Xiang Pei are now in a deadlock. Therefore, I decided to send another army to attack Xuedi and launch a two-sided attack on Lu..."
Hearing this, everyone in the tent enthusiastically asked for the tassel.
Think about it, this is a great contribution to the destruction of Lu!
Previously, Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, made it clear: the greater the merit, the more fiefdoms will be granted in the future.
Under the temptation of enfeoffment, the nobles of Chudong became red-faced.
In the end, after careful consideration, Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo handed over the matter to "Zhangyang Lord Xiong Zheng" and "Pengli Lord Xiong Yi", which could be regarded as a show of goodwill or wooing to the nobles of the Xiong family of Chudong - after all, even if It is certain that he will inherit the throne in the future, and he also needs to improve relations with the Xiong nobles of Chudong and gain their support.
After all, we are our own clan.
After accepting this important task, Xiong Zheng, the Lord of Zhangyang, and Xiong Yi, the Lord of Pengli, were extremely happy.
After all, this not only means that they can expand the fiefdom, but also means that the crown prince Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, has "changed his mind" from a certain perspective and is ready to resolve the past feud and change the relationship with the noble Xiong family of Chudong.
In early May, when Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, led his army to Langya County, Xiong Zheng, Lord of Zhangyang, and Xiong Yi, Lord of Pengli, also led their respective armies to Xuedi of Lu State.
As one of the only two counties in the Lu State, Xue County is not large in area and does not have many cities. The most famous one is "Xue City", the capital of the ancient Xue State. After being repaired by the Lu people, After it was governed, its scale was no less than that of other large cities in other countries. What is more valuable is that there are many workshops in this city. It is one of the important crafts and technology cities in the Lu State, and its technical level is relatively clear. The Hufang City in China is only high but not low.
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the armies of Xiong Zheng, Lord of Zhangyang, and Xiong Yi, Lord of Pengli, approached "Lingqiu" in Xuedi.
Lingqiu is just a small county, covering an area of less than one mile, and the height of the city wall is no more than ten feet. Naturally, it cannot resist the Chu army under Xiong Zheng and Xiong Yi. In just half a day, the county town was destroyed. The Chu army broke through.
At the moment the city was captured, tens of thousands of Chu soldiers poured into the city, rushing to the houses in the city, killing their owners and looting their finances. The female relatives in their homes were also attacked by the Chu soldiers. It was such an act of adultery that in just a few hours, the once peaceful and peaceful county of Lingqiu turned into a hell on earth. The angry and helpless roars of Lu men and the miserable cries of Lu women could be seen everywhere. The sound, as well as the unbridled and harsh laughter of the Chu soldiers.
In fact, it is not surprising that this phenomenon occurs. After all, the Chu State has the largest army among all the countries in the Central Plains, but the military pay for the (regular army) soldiers is very meager, and the food and soldiers among them are not even paid.
After all, they were just peasant soldiers recruited by the Chu State with grain.
And this led to a problem: when the Chu army attacked other countries, they robbed the people of other countries very seriously, and even rape and robbery were not uncommon.
Just like the various evil deeds of the Chu army in Lingqiu at this moment.
To be fair, if Zhangyang Jun Xiong Zheng and Pengli Jun Xiong Yi issued strict orders, they might be able to control the various evil deeds of the Chu soldiers under their command, but unfortunately, these two nobles of the Xiong clan in the east of Chu are busy conquering the county.
With all the wealth within, how could they have the time to control the behavior of their soldiers? - Perhaps, even if they noticed, they wouldn't necessarily stop it.
After all, not all commanders who lead troops are like Zhao Run, Tian Dan, Li Mu and others, who have extremely high prestige and can make their soldiers willing to fight for them. In many cases, generals who lead troops still have to
Rely on "inducements" to grasp the morale of the military.
This so-called 'lure', to put it bluntly, is the promise made by the former Korean governor Ju Xin to his soldiers when he attacked Sanyang, which was to set up troops for three days after capturing the city.
The same is true for Xiong Zheng, Lord of Zhangyang, and Xiong Yi, Lord of Pengli. On the way to Xuedi, they had already made a promise to their sergeants. If they could capture Xuecheng, they would be allowed to deploy troops for a few days, etc.
This made their Chu army's morale and fighting spirit high, and also destined the people of the Lu State in Xuedi to be maimed by this Chu army.
Two days later, Xiong Zheng, Lord of Zhangyang, and Xiong Yi, Lord of Pengli, left more than a thousand soldiers to garrison Lingqiu, and led the remaining troops to continue marching northward.
At this time, Lingqiu had ten rooms and nine empty houses, and all the men in the city were killed. Only some women who had been humiliated survived humiliatingly, and continued to bear the humiliation of the more than a thousand Chu troops stationed there, unable to survive.
, even if you want to die.
Near the middle of May, the armies of Xiong Zheng, Lord of Zhangyang, and Xiong Yi, Lord of Pengli, finally arrived at Xuecheng.
During this period, this Chu army captured several small counties and manors along the way, and the Lu people in these small counties and manors were all persecuted by these Chu soldiers.
After learning about this, the local forces of the Lu State, the Mohist disciples, gathered from all directions, hoping to resist the Chu army. However, unfortunately, the number of Chu troops under the command of Xiong Zheng, Lord of Zhangyang, and Xiong Yi, Lord of Pengli, was too large.
Too many. How could a few hundred Mohist disciples resist those hundreds of thousands of troops?
In desperation, these Mohist disciples had no choice but to run around and spread the word about the evil deeds of the Chu army, hoping to awaken the Lu people and unite to resist the Chu army.
When these Mohist disciples reported the previous actions of the Chu army to Xuecheng, Xuecheng suddenly fell into chaos. The people in the city were terrified and everyone was in danger.
In fact, at this time, the nobles and aristocratic families in Xuecheng City had already learned about certain rumors, quietly packed up their belongings, and fled to the north with their families.
Even Xuecheng's city guard "Ji Ma" had already quietly sent his wife, children and children to Qufu, the royal capital in the north.
Even if the war in Xuecheng goes unfavorably, the Xuecheng city guard will abandon the city without hesitation and lead the remaining defeated soldiers back to Lu County.
Only the ordinary people in the city who had no information were still ignorant until the Mohist disciples spread the news to Xuecheng.
On the way to the city tower, countless people in the city surrounded Ji Min's seat and asked anxiously.
"Lord Ji Min, can Xuecheng stop the brutal Chu army?"
"Lord Ji Min, you must definitely repel those Chu troops!"
"Lord Ji Min..."
Listening to the pleas of the people in the city, the only thing Ji Min could do at this time was to swear that he would do his best to defend Xuecheng.
As for whether he could actually hold the city, he had already judged it: absolutely impossible!
You must know that he didn't know much about military affairs, and he only had a few thousand troops in his hands, which were originally used to defend against raids by the Taishan bandits. Even though there were more than 10,000 troops of Qi veteran Tian Ao stationed outside the city,
So what?—The Chu army that came to attack Xuecheng was more than ten times their number!
If Huan Hu and his tens of thousands of troops were still in Xuecheng at this moment, then Ji Min would be willing to try to see if he could repel the Chu army and experience what it was like to be a hero who saved Lu.
After all, Huan Hu is very good at leading troops in battle, and he has Chen Shou and other brave generals under his command. More importantly, Huan Hu has tens of thousands of troops. Combining these, it is not impossible to attack
Retreat the invading Chu army.
But helplessly, Chu generals Xiang Mo and Xiang Pei advanced to Qufu. Prince Shupan of Lu and San Huan finally reached an agreement and transferred Huan Hu's army back to Lu County. This made Ji Min completely give up his previous plan.
When he came to the city wall, Ji Min looked to the south, because at this moment, the Chu army was cutting down trees and setting up camp ten miles away.
In view of the small number of troops in the city, Ji Min had no intention of attacking at all - using thousands of people to attack the hundreds of thousands of Chu troops on the opposite side? Isn't this like hitting an egg with a stone?
At this moment, several riders from outside the city quickly approached the city. After approaching, the leading young general shouted towards the city tower: "I am Da Qi Tiantian. I have something important to report to Ji Chengshou. Please open the city gate!"
Ji Min squinted his eyes for identification, and immediately recognized that this young general was Tian Tian, the grandson of Qi veteran Tian Ao.
"Open the city gate!"
After greeting Tian Tian on the city wall, Ji Min ordered the city gate to be opened.
After a while, Tian Tian led several guards up the city wall, met Ji Min, and asked in an urgent tone: "Ji Cheng Shou, there is a Chu army camping ten miles to the south... Jiazu Tuo
I asked the city guard if he had any good strategies to defend against the enemy."
"Where can I find a good strategy to defend against the enemy?"
Ji Min invited Tian Tian to the city gate tower and told Tian Tian the truth with a wry smile when no one was around.
After hearing Ji Min's words, Tian Tian was not surprised at all, and conveyed the words of his grandfather Tian Ao: "We have sent people to inquire and learned that the commanders of the Chu army on this road are Xiong Zheng, Lord of Zhangyang, and Xiong Yi, Lord of Pengli.
He is just a famous nobleman of the Chu State, and may not know much about military affairs. My ancestor suggested that you and I might as well join hands and attack the Chu camp tonight and tomorrow..."
"Night, night attack?" Ji Min was startled and stammered in a low voice: "Master Tian, that's hundreds of thousands of Chu troops..."
"So what?" Tian Tian raised his eyebrows and said confidently: "Soldiers are more valuable than more soldiers. As long as you and I are unprepared, even if the Chu army has hundreds of thousands of people, it will be impossible to escape defeat!
"
"this……"
Ji Min looked hesitant.
Seeing this, Tian Tian said with some displeasure: "Ji Chengshou, my Daqi soldiers are still fighting for your country at this moment. As a descendant of the Ji family of Sanhuan, you are afraid of fighting in the face of battle?"
Ji Min panicked and quickly explained: "Mr. Tian, it's not that Ji is timid, but we in Xuecheng only have a few thousand troops. If the sneak attack fails, Xuecheng will... just..."
"We have never fought, so how can we talk about success or failure?" Tian Tian said with a frown.
However, no matter how much he tried to persuade him, Ji Min refused.
In desperation, Tian Tian then returned to the Qi army camp outside the city and reported to his grandfather Tian Ao.
"Ji Min never agreed?"
When he saw his good grandson walking into the commander's tent with a dark face, Qi State veteran Tian Ao roughly guessed the situation and asked with a smile.
Hearing his grandfather's inquiry, Tian Tian frowned and said, "Ji Min kept using Xuecheng's safety as an excuse, but in fact he was greedy for life and afraid of death... not enough and cunning!"
With that said, he asked his grandfather Tian Ao: "Grandpa, if Ji Min refuses to attack, do we still want to attack the Chu camp at night?"
"Of course." Tian Ao stroked his beard and the old god said on the ground: "In fact, I have never thought that with the help of Xuecheng's troops, could it be possible to repel the Chu army with just a few thousand more people?...
...I just want to see how sincere Ji Min is about holding on to Xuecheng."
After a pause, he said with regret: "Looking at it now, Ji Min probably has no intention of fighting the Chu army to the death..."
After hearing this, Tian Tian said with some annoyance: "Grandpa, my grandson Guan Lu transferred Huan Hu away a while ago, and I am afraid that he has decided to abandon Xuedi and stick to Lu. Since Lu has already given up Xuedi, why?
The soldiers of our army still have to make sacrifices for the State of Lu? Forgive me, grandson, for saying it bluntly, our army has done all it can to the State of Lu!"
Tian Ao shook his head and said sternly: "Don't say that...the so-called lips are dead and the teeth are cold. If the state of Lu dies, it will be extremely detrimental to us, the Qi Dynasty."
"But the State of Lu has given up on Xuedi." Frowning, Tian Tian suggested, "Why don't we retreat to Lu County as well?"
"No." Tian Ao shook his head and said seriously: "There are Xiang Mo and Xiang Pei with nearly 200,000 Chu troops on the other side of Lu County. If our army retreats, Zhangyang Jun Xiong Zheng and Peng Li Jun Xiong Yi will be on the road.
Hundreds of thousands of troops are also approaching Lu County. By then, the Chu army in Lu County will reach nearly 400,000. They will be surrounded by enemies on all sides, and Chu army camps can be seen everywhere. By then, there will no longer be any space for our side to gain a foothold on this battlefield... Once
The Chu army launched an offensive, and both ours and the army of Lu were defeated like a mountain... Most of the Lu people did not know the art of war and did not understand its principles, but I could not sit back and watch it become a cocoon. Again,
My lips are dead and my teeth are cold!”
"..."
Tian Tian remained silent, feeling only agitated in his heart.
At this moment, a Qi soldier came in, holding a letter and said to Tian Ao: "General, someone just delivered this letter outside the military camp, saying it was for you."
"oh?"
Tian Ao took the letter curiously, frowning and looking at the signature "Huan Hu pays homage" on the cover.
"Huan Hu? Why did he send someone to deliver a message to your grandfather?"
Tian Tian said in surprise.
Tian Ao didn't say anything. He opened the letter and glanced at it. For a moment, he saw his brows furrowed.
But the strange thing is that after a while, his frowning eyebrows slowly relaxed.
Seeing this, Tian Tian asked curiously: "Grandpa, what was written in the letter?"
Tian Ao pondered for a while, then lowered his voice and said, "This Huan Hu... wants to be the hero of Lu."
Having said this, he couldn't help but glance at the letter in his hand.
"... He did not hesitate to disobey the king's order, but also acted as a hero to save the Lu people in Xuedi. This Huan Hu seems to have a big plan..."