On March 16, while King Zhao Run of Wei was practicing calligraphy in the study room of Ganlu Hall, Gao Kuo, the Zuoduwei of Tiance Mansion, hurried into the hall and reported: "Your Majesty, Shen Yu sent someone to send a battle report. It is said that on the second day of the third month, King Pingyu of Chu Xiong Hu ordered his general Xue Le to lead tens of thousands of troops to attack Shangshui..."
After hearing this, Zhao Run paused with the brush in his hand, and then continued to write on the paper, asking: "How many casualties are there on both sides?"
Gao Kuo replied: "The two sides fought fiercely for several days. Our army lost two camps, but the casualties of the soldiers were only more than 2,000, while the Chu army's casualties were probably more than 30,000..."
Hearing such a disparity in the number of casualties, Zhao Run showed no trace of joy on his face. He frowned and asked, "What happened to the two abandoned camps?"
Gao Kuo replied: "It's mainly because the crossbow arrows consume too much."
"Oh." Zhao Run then relaxed his brows, put the brush in his hand on the pen holder, walked out from behind the desk with his hands behind his back, and said: "Regardless of the cost of casualties, just to consume our army's crossbow arrow reserves and soldiers' Energy...that guy Xiong Hu is really not making progress."
After that, he asked Gao Kuo: "You just said there was an urgent report from the south... I guess you didn't just receive the battle report from Shang Shui, right?"
"Yes."
Gao Kuo nodded and said: "In addition, I also received two secret letters from the Green Crows. The first secret letter is about "Guling"..."
"Guling?"
Zhao Run was stunned for a moment, then frowned and asked: "The Qu family?"
"It's those white-eyed wolves who have not been raised well." Gao Kuo nodded and said: "In early March, Xiong Wu, Lord of Chu Guling, led his army to "Yixiang" and approached Guling. In response, the Qu family of Guling There was no movement. No one was sent to inform Shang Shui or Yang Xia to raise their guard, nor did they send troops to stop Xiong Wu. I thought that the two might have reached some tacit understanding in private..."
"Are the Qu family following Xiong Wu?"
Zhao Run chuckled and shook his head, disapproving of Gao Kuo's indignant look.
The "Qu clan" they refer to is also the clan of the "Qu clan named Mi" who failed to compete with the Xiong clan for the kingship. They are also the clan of "Qu Ping, Lord of Xiling", one of the first three pillars of the Chu Kingdom.
At that time, the Qu family failed to launch a rebellion in the Chu Kingdom. Not only did they fail to seize the throne of the King of Chu from the Xiong family, but Qu Ping, the Lord of Xiling, one of the Three Pillars, was not used by the King of Chu for the rest of his life and fell into a river in depression. And die.
At that time, the old Chu King Xiong Xu wanted to exterminate the Qu family, but Zhao Run considered that keeping the Qu family might cause some trouble for the Chu country, so he issued a righteous announcement and used words to bully Xiong Xu. The Xiong clan finally forced the old Chu King Xiong Xu and the Xiong clan to kill the Qu clan to avoid being attacked and annihilated by Wei in terms of virtue.
As a result, the old Chu King Xiong Xu gained a good reputation as "tolerant", and Zhao Run also achieved his goal, which was to save the Qu family.
In fact, Zhao Run later suggested that the former king Zhao Si give the Qu family an enclave that was handed over to him by the Chu State to the Wei State, that is, the land south of Suiyang and north of Xiangcheng, so that they could thrive. ——At that time, Wei State had not yet recovered Song County. This enclave was a narrow strip of land sandwiched between Song County and Chu State and was difficult to defend. Therefore, Wei State considered giving up after weighing the pros and cons.
To be fair, Zhao Run has no grudges against the Qu family. He did this purely to disgust the Chu State and create some trouble for the Chu State.
No, later in the "Five-Party Campaign to Defeat Wei", the Qu family in Gulingyi stood together with Wei and resolutely resisted Chu's attack on Wei.
Even later, when Shouling Jun Jingshe defeated Yongqiu and tried to withdraw to Chu from the direction of Guling and Pingyu, the Qu family in Guling also had the same attitude as Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu, and treated Shouling Jun Jingshe
Shouling Junjingshe treated Chu's request for help as if nothing had happened, but Shouling Junjingshe had no choice but to withdraw the Chu army across Song County, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of defeated troops. Shouling Junjingshe finally committed suicide on the banks of the Chushui River out of shame.
But this time, the Qu family in Gulingyi seemed to have got together with Xiong Wu, the Chu prince who failed to compete with Xiong Tuo for the throne, and ignored the kindness of Wei to them. No wonder Gao Kuo scolded them for "not being able to support them."
Familiar white-eyed wolf".
However, Zhao Run didn't care about this. Although his Wei State did help the Qu family back then, in the final analysis, Wei State's purpose of helping the Qu family was not pure. Therefore, he did not expect that the Qu family would be like that.
Treat Wei Guo like his benefactor.
Of course, since the Qu family chose to join the Chu State, the Wei State would not need to show mercy to them in the future.
In comparison, what surprised Zhao Run even more was Guling Lord Xiong Wu - even he did not expect that this Chu prince who failed to compete with Xiong Tuo for the Chu king's seat would actually become the leader of Chu's attack on Wei.
The commander-in-chief of the Song Dynasty.
Although Zhao Run has also heard that although Xiong Wu failed in his fight for the throne with Xiong Tuo, because his mother is the queen of the old Chu king Xiong Xu, and the Ji Lian family of her uncle's family is not small in the Chu country, so
Even if the fight for position fails, it is not difficult to save one's life.
But even so, Zhao Run really didn't expect that Xiong Wu would be appointed by Xiong Tuo as the commander-in-chief of the attack on Song County.
Zhao Run really couldn't understand what Xiong Tuo was thinking? He would actually give such an opportunity to his former political opponent...
"...or is it that Xiong Tuo wants to use my help, Da Wei, to completely eradicate Xiong Wu?"
After thinking about it, Zhao Run felt that this possibility was not impossible.
After all, Xiong Tuo and Xiong Wu are half-brothers, and as the king of Chu, even if he hates Xiong Wu in his heart, he can't be too cruel to execute him - unless Xiong Wu commits an unforgivable crime.
.
But on the other hand, if Xiong Wu died in the hands of the Wei people, it would have nothing to do with Xiong Tuo.
"If this is true, then Song County will have a chance to let Chu..."
Thinking of this, Zhao Run told Gao Kuo: "Immediately go find out the details of Xiong Wu's troops, see where these troops come from, and who are under their command... After you find out clearly, come and report immediately!"
"yes!"
Gao Kuo responded and retreated.
About four or five days later, Gao Kuo hurried to Ganlu Hall again.
It turned out that it was the Green Crows who were dispatched to the Song County area and sent news about the details of the army under Guling Lord Xiong Wu.
As Zhao Hongrun guessed, this time Guling Lord Xiong Wu was ordered to attack Song County. The only supporters behind him were the Ji Lian family, the Ji family, the Lian family, the Huang family, the Jiao family, and other families.
Almost none of the Xiang family, Jing family, etc. appeared in Xiong Wu's army.
After listening to Gao Kuo's story, Zhao Hongrun nodded secretly: If nothing unexpected happens, Xiong Tuo appointed Xiong Wu to attack Song County. This is just killing someone with a borrowed knife, that is, using Xiong Wu's strength to weaken Wei's military strength in Song County.
In turn, it also used the help of Wei to weaken the success of Xiong Wu and his group.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun sneered and shook his head.
He felt that since inheriting the position of King of Chu, Xiong Tuo has become more and more cunning, and is no longer the reckless and upright young man he used to be.
"Then...how should we deal with Xiong Wu's army?"
He walked to the desk with a map of the Central Plains spread out in the center of the study, placed a lifelike blue soldier chess piece carved in the shape of a long gunner in the area of "Guling", and then moved his gaze to the eastern part of Song County.
"Huling", look at Huling, then look at Guling, look at Guling, and then look at Huling.
"strangeness……"
Zhao Run felt a little strange, because the area of Song County was not too small. If Xiong Tuo really appointed Xiong Wu to attack Song County - no matter what the purpose - he should ask Xiong Wu to lead his army across Suishui, from
It is appropriate for "Pei", "Pi" and others to launch an offensive in the eastern areas of the Song Dynasty.
Immediately, Zhao Run thought that Xiang Mo, Xiang Pei, Jing Yun, Xiong Li and other kings of Chu State had not yet taken any action, and Zhao Run guessed: Xiong Tuo should have sent another army to attack Song County.
, this army is probably the army that Xiong Tuo really places his hope on.
"...The Huling navy cannot move for the time being."
Muttering to himself, Zhao Hongrun looked at Song County on the map, thoughtfully.
In his opinion, no matter how stupid Xiong Wu is, he will not be used as a spearman by Xiong Tuo. Since this guy has received the order to attack the western part of Song County, he must have his own ideas.
Either they are working hard but not contributing, or they want to take advantage of this war opportunity to reorganize their forces, accumulate troops, and accumulate strength to wait for an opportunity to regain the throne from Xiong Tuo in the future.
The former doesn't matter, but if it's the latter, Zhao Run is a little worried that Song County's garrison won't be able to stop Xiong Wu.
After all, in addition to the local army of Song County, the only people stationed in Song County at this time were the private armies of Gaoxianhou Lu Xin, Liuguang Hou Zhao Gang and other domestic nobles. Their combat capabilities were really mediocre.
For the sake of caution, Zhao Run believes that an additional army should indeed be sent. However, the problem is that the only three armies of Wei that have not yet received orders are Sima An's Hexi Army, Bosile's Jiejiao Cavalry, and Wei State.
The Hedong Army was jealous.
Among them, Wei Ji's Hedong Army, after General Shaohu led Wei Wu's army to draw troops from the Hetao area and went to Hanoi County, immediately took care of the defense of the Hetao area; while Sima An's Hexi Army also divided its troops to assist Hedong after Wei Wu's army left the Hetao area.
The army defends the Hetao.
Therefore, to be precise, the tens of thousands of Jiejiao cavalry led by Bosile were the last troops that the Wei State could mobilize.
"...We still don't have enough troops. One versus four is really too much."
After baring his teeth and taking a breath, Zhao Hongrun felt a little headache.
To be fair, if Qin had not existed, he was at least 80% sure that with the existing military strength of Wei, he could beat Han, Qi, and Chu until they could not take care of themselves. However, Qin's attitude was ambiguous, so that he had to
Reserve at least 100,000 troops to prevent Qin from defecting.
This is by no means an unfounded worry of Zhao Run. In fact, last year, after South Korea declared war on Wei, Zhao Run asked the Ministry of Rites to send an envoy to Qin, hoping that Qin would step up its attack on South Korea. In fact, whether the Qin army could
Defeat Li from Yanmen County
Harmony, this is not important in Zhao Run's opinion. What is important is that he wants to ensure that Qin really puts its troops into the battlefield with South Korea, instead of accumulating troops to attack Wei at the most critical time in the future.
A stab in the back.
It is undeniable that the Wei-Qin alliance is very reliable, but it is based on the cooperation of all the countries in the Central Plains. If the Wei State has gradually revealed the terrorist power that can annex the countries in the Central Plains, even if it is Zhao Run, he will consider whether
Wei should be weakened. After all, if Wei is strong enough to unify the Central Plains, then Qin will not be far away from being annexed by Wei.
It was precisely because he thought of this that Zhao Run was very worried about Qin's attitude.
However, what made him a little annoyed was that Qin's ambiguous attitude seemed to be evolving towards the situation he was most worried about. Gongsun Qi, the commander-in-chief of the Qin army stationed in Hetao and Xihe, still blocked Yanmen County but refused to attack it.
, it seems that Qin is also hesitating on which side they should stand in this war.
"If Qin could fully support it, this battle would be much easier to fight..."
Zhao Hongrun thought secretly.
Thinking about this, he couldn't help but think of the officials from the Ministry of Rites who were on a mission to Qin again more than ten days ago. He very much hoped that Tang Ju could persuade Qin.
If Qin cannot be persuaded, Zhao Hongrun also hopes to at least ensure that Qin will not turn against him. Otherwise, the variables in this battle will be too great.
"That's all, let's transfer the Jiejiao Army to Song County first."
Shaking his head, Zhao Hongrun said to Gao Kuo: "Gao Kuo, inform Zhai Huang and order him to mobilize the Jiejiao Army to Song County in the name of Tiance Mansion..."
"Jie Jiao Army?" Gao Kuo was surprised when he heard this and looked a little worried.
The reason is very simple. Firstly, the Jiejiao cavalry is the main cavalry reserved for defense against the Qin State. Secondly, the Jiejiao cavalry is aggressive and cruel by nature. If they are placed in Song County, there is no guarantee that they will not do anything harmful to nature.
When Gao Kuo expressed his concerns, Zhao Run was silent for a moment and said: "Right now, there has been no change in the Qin State. The top priority is the Chu State... Furthermore, even if the Qin State is really at war with each other, there will be
Sima An's Hexi Army and Wei Ji's Hedong Army should be able to stop them for a while. As for the wildness of the Jiejiao Cavalry, I can only think about the good at the moment..."
Hearing this, Gao Kuo nodded slightly.
On that day, Luoyang Tiance Mansion issued an order, ordering Bosile to lead the Jijiao cavalry to Song County.
It has to be said that as the adopted son of Bitatu, the former leader of the Jijiao tribe, Bosile is also a very ambitious wolf. Perhaps he has never forgotten the hatred when his adoptive father Bitatu was forced to death by the Wei army.
Zhao Run had no doubt that once the Wei State became weak one day, Bosile, the wolf, would most likely be the first to turn around and bite the Wei State.
But on the other hand, as long as Wei is still strong, Bosile, the wolf, will also obey his adoptive father Bitatu's instructions before his death and become a loyal guard dog of Wei.
Although Zhao Run inevitably has some grudges against Bosile's reserved loyalty, but if he thinks about it carefully, is the so-called reserved loyalty the only one in the country who has Bosile?
In short, as long as Wei remains strong, these are not problems.
"Bosile takes the order!"
A day and a half later, Bosile, who was stationed in Yishan and Yiqueguan, received an order from Luoyang Tiance Mansion. Without any delay, he immediately led his army of about 40,000 Jiejiao cavalry across Ying.
Shuijun goes to Songjun.
It has to be said that in view of the fact that the Wei State has gradually improved its domestic road facilities over the years, this made the Jiejiao Cavalry march at an unimaginably fast speed. It only took about ten days to cross Yingshui County and arrive at Chenliu.
It is only one step away from Dingtao in Song County.
Even Zhao Run was slightly surprised after learning about the marching speed of the Jiejiao Cavalry.
At the same time, Xiong Wu, Lord of Guling of Chu, had led his troops to garrison in Guling, the fiefdom that originally belonged to him.
Zhao Run guessed right. Xiong Wu did have private contact with the Qu clan in Guling. No, as soon as Xiong Wu arrived in the Guling area, Qu He, the current patriarch of the Qu clan, led his clan members out to welcome Xiong Wu.
I invited them to the mansion of the Qu family and held a banquet in honor of Xiong Wu.
Needless to say, there was no need to go into detail about the banquet. After the banquet was over, the old man, who was over sixty years old, gave in and invited Guling Lord Xiong Wu to the secret room for a detailed discussion.
In the secret room, Qu He said to Xiong Wu: "I, the Qu family, will definitely support the young master this time, and hope that the young master will keep his promise."
Hearing this, Xiong Wu laughed loudly and said, "Old man, please relax, I, Xiong Wu, will practice what I say."
"Seriously?" Qu He suddenly looked at Xiong Wu seriously.
Seeing this, Xiong Wu sneered and said, "Old man, you can only choose to trust me now, can't you?"
When he said this, Qu He's face changed slightly.
As Gao Kuo said, to his Wei state, the Qu family is really a bunch of unfamiliar white-eyed wolves.
But it's no wonder. After all, the Qu family was also a branch of the royal family of Chu State and a prominent local family. Among them, Qu Ping, Lord of Xiling, was one of the three pillars of the previous generation. It can be imagined that the Qu family was the leader of the Chu State at that time.
lofty status.
However, since they failed to compete for the throne with the Xiong clan and were later exiled to Gulingyi, the Qu clan has plummeted.
You must know that Gulingyi at that time had been raided once by Bosile's Jiejiao cavalry and Mayou's Youma army, and all the people in the area were brought to Wei. This caused the Qu family to be exiled here.
In the end, these former noble men and women could only rely on their own hands to support themselves.
In the early years, because they still had hatred for the Xiong clan in their hearts, the Qu clan gritted their teeth and did not surrender to the Xiong clan.
But as time passed by year by year, the Qu clan couldn't help but begin to miss the rich and luxurious life they once had. In fact, more and more clan members wanted to return to the Chu Kingdom, even if they had to succumb to the Xiong clan.
But unfortunately, Xiong Tuo, the new king of Chu State, never showed any goodwill to them, as if he wanted them to fend for themselves here.
In fact, if you think about it, you must know that Xiong Tuo's ambition in this life is to implement the ideas and decrees of his uncle Xiong Hao, Lord of Runan, to eradicate the old aristocratic class that has long been decayed in the country, and replace it with an enterprising new aristocratic class, and Qu's
This clan is exactly one of the malignant tumors of the old aristocracy in Xiong Tuo's eyes. In this case, how could Xiong Tuo recruit these people back to the country?
As a result, the expectations and hopes of the Qu family to return to the upper class nobility of the Chu Kingdom were ruthlessly extinguished by Xiong Tuo.
However, at this moment, Xiong Wu, the Lord of Guling, who failed to compete with Xiong Tuo for the throne, is still struggling, still dreaming of his dream of one day regaining the throne from Xiong Tuo.
Therefore, when Xiong Wu learned that the Qu family expressed their wish to return to the Chu Kingdom, he secretly sent people to contact the Qu family, and eventually the two parties hit it off.
"Don't worry."
Seeing the change in Qu He's expression, Xiong Wu said with a smile: "I am different from Xiong Tuo. As long as the Qu family sincerely helps me, I will definitely give you generous rewards when things are done!"
Hearing Xiong Wu's promise again, Qu He nodded slightly.
Later, after leaving the secret room, Xiong Wu's general "Ji Qiu" said to Xiong Wu privately: "The Qu family has long since declined, why should the young master recruit them?"
Xiong Wu chuckled when he heard this and said: "Although the reputation of the Qu family is far less than it used to be, it is undeniable that there are still old people in the country who are related to the Qu family, but these people are afraid of their father and the king, and they are afraid of Xiong Tuo.
I just don’t dare to reveal anything...anymore
"The Qu family has been operating in Guling for more than ten years, and they still have some manpower and savings. Now I am hiring people, how can I be picky?" At this point, he lowered his voice and said: "Qu family
This clan is the bones of this young master’s daughter.”
Ji Qiu nodded when he heard this.
A few days later, Xiong Wu used Gulingyi as his base to reorganize his army.
However, at this moment, he received an order from the royal capital Shoying. It turned out that King Xiong Tuo of Chu learned that he was procrastinating in Guling and ordered him to come and urge him.
After receiving the urgent order, Xiong Wu said angrily in front of a group of close generals: "That fellow Xiong Tuo, you think I don't know that he wants to use Wei's army to cut me off, and he hastily asked me to go and die. It's really abominable!"
After getting angry, he suddenly asked: "How is the progress on Chu Shuijun's side?"
After hearing this, his general Ji Qiu said: "The news I just got is that Lord Chu Shui has sent troops out of Su County, General Xiang Mo has stationed in Pengcheng, and Lord Xinyang Xiang Pei has stationed in Xiao County. Counting the days, it should be about the same.
Fighting against the Huling Navy in the eastern part of Song County, Wei State..."
Hearing this, Xiong Wu thought for a moment, and then asked: "Where is Xiong Hu in Pingyu, how is the battle going?"
Ji Qiu shrugged and said, "I heard that we lost tens of thousands of people before we captured two or three camps of the Shangshui Army. We haven't even touched the city of Shangshui County yet."
As soon as I heard that Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu had lost tens of thousands of horses on the Shangshui side, Xiong Wu felt very happy.
He glanced around at the generals present and said with a smile: "This is very good. Xiong Hu has restrained Shang Shui, and Chu Shui's army has restrained Huling Wei army. At least 70% of Wei's heavy troops deployed in Song County
It has been restrained by Xiong Hu and Chu Shuijun, and only some local garrisons are left... Everyone says that the soldiers of the Wei State are invincible, but I don't believe it. The garrisons of the local county towns of the Wei State can also stop us!"
Having said this, he ordered his guards to lay out the march map on the desk, then pointed to a place on it with his finger, and said seriously: "According to the previous plan, we will take the lead in capturing Suiyang as the foundation for our establishment!"
The generals at the table looked at each other and nodded.
On March 29, Xiong Wu, Lord of Guling, left Guling and marched north to attack Suiyang.
At the same time, Wei general Bosile, leading 40,000 Jiejiao cavalry, had just arrived in Xiangling, which was only about 120 miles away from Suiyang...