On August 18, King Shui of Chu once again summoned the generals from all the countries to discuss matters in the commander's tent.
In today's discussion, Xiang Pei, the king of Xinyang, and Wu Qi, the general of Yue, and the generals of the five countries of Chu, Xi, Chu, Qi, Lu, Yue, and Wei, finally gathered together.
Before the meeting began, Chu Shuijun glanced at Tian Dan of Qi State intentionally or unintentionally.
The reason is that after yesterday's military meeting, Wei Shao, the general of the Wei State, followed Tian Dan to the Qi army's camp. According to the information obtained by Chu Shuijun, Tian Dan hosted a banquet for Wei Shao, Wei Yun, and Wei Zhen in the tent.
The three of them were accompanied by Ji Wu, Huan Hu, and Chen Shou, three generals of the Lu State. There is no doubt that a small group of Qi, Lu, and Wei armies had been formed.
When he thought about this, Lord Chu Shui became angry.
He thought to himself, if he had known this, he might as well have allowed Wei Guo's 60,000 troops to be completely exhausted in the battle to attack Daliang in the first three days. Fortunately, he had left a leeway at that time.
"...It really deserves to be damned!"
He cursed secretly in his mind.
But secret curses are secret curses. Since the guards have surrendered to Tian Dan of Qi State, then Lord Chu Shui will naturally give Tian Dan face - or rather give face to Qi State. After all, Qi State is currently responsible for the coalition forces of various countries.
If the supply of grain and grass makes Qi unhappy and breaks up, the outcome will definitely not be what Chu wants to see.
At least for now, the Chu State has to coax the Qi State with good words, but once it defeats the Wei State, the Chu State may immediately turn its guns against Qi State.
After taking a deep look at Tian Dan for a few times, Chu Shuijun looked around at the generals in the tent and said in a solemn voice: "In yesterday's battle, we were unfortunately defeated by the Wei army. This was not what we expected. However, the matter has come to this, even if we are fighting against each other.
Nothing can be redeemed by shirking responsibility. I hope you will exercise some restraint and work together... Don't you think so, General Tian?"
After hearing this, Qi Jiang Tian Dan nodded. Of course he understood that quarreling could not solve the problem. It was just that Chu General Xiang Kuan had a bad temper yesterday and made sarcastic remarks to him, which made him unhappy.
In today's coalition of countries, two camps have gradually formed, one is "Chu Yue", and the other is "Qi Lu Wei". The leader of the former is Chu Shuijun, and the latter is obviously Tian Dan of Qi State.
, Therefore, when Chu Shuijun and Tian Dan reached an agreement, the allied forces of the various countries were finally able to temporarily join hands.
Now that we have reached an agreement, we naturally have to discuss the strategy to deal with Wei.
Regardless of the fact that King Zhao Run of Wei won a battle yesterday, in fact it had little impact on the coalition forces of the various countries. After all, in detail, apart from food and soldiers, the only troops under the two brothers Xiang Mo and Xiang Kuan were among the coalition forces of the nations.
There were some losses. Although it was a pity that the two brothers lost 20,000 to 30,000 troops for the rear, but for the coalition forces of various countries that still had nearly 1.3 million troops, the slight losses were actually nothing.
At least through these losses, the coalition forces have more or less understood the true and falsehoods of the Wei army.
For example, King Zhao Run of Wei actually didn’t have any special trump card, otherwise he would definitely have used it in such a dangerous situation as yesterday - but he didn’t. He just used his charm as a monarch and inspired by his outstanding military morale.
, it just inspired the Wei soldiers under his command.
This allowed the coalition forces of various countries, who had been secretly worried, to finally let go of their worries.
"...King Zhao Run of Wei has always used his troops in a coordinated and surprising manner. It is very rare for him to take such desperate risks as he did yesterday."
In the commander's tent, Qi General Tian Dan speculated on Wei Wang Zhao Run's next action: "Based on Tian's understanding of Zhao Run, yesterday he won a battle with dangerous tactics, and he will probably not be too aggressive next time. If I think so, If the information is not bad, he will temporarily take a defensive position and at the same time ask his cavalry to attack our army's food road, causing our millions of coalition troops to be dragged down by daily food consumption..."
Chu Shuijun nodded when he heard this, but he didn't particularly care.
Because at the beginning of this battle, Chu King Xiong Tuo expected that his Chu army's food routes would be lengthened as the army advanced. Therefore, he came up with the "water and land simultaneous" method of transporting food and grass. That is to say, in addition to the grain transport teams on land, they mainly rely on the three water transports of "Lianglu Canal", "Dahe", and "Dajiang-Caigou" to transport grain.
Although most of Qi's ships were destroyed by Wei's Huling Wei Army and Wei Wu Army before the Northern Expedition to Korea, Chu State, which has a large number of domestic waters, already has a large number of ships and can fully afford the need for grain and grass transportation. .
And this is exactly why Wei General Bosile led more than 40,000 Jiejiao cavalry to try to cut off the food routes of the coalition forces, but failed. The reason was that nearly 60 to 70% of the food supplies of the coalition forces It is transported through a convenient waterway network, which is beyond the reach of the Jiejiao cavalry.
I remember that a while ago, the Chu army captured Bolangsha River Port, which made it more convenient for Qi to transport grain and grass. However, it was a pity that Wei King Zhao Run, who led his army to Daliang in time, quickly recaptured Bolangsha River Port. As a result, the coalition forces of various countries can only transport food and grass for the army through "Xianfu Port".
In addition, there are "Qixian", "Suixian", "Suiyang" and other cities close to the river, which have become transfer stations for the water and food routes of the coalition forces of various countries.
Just as Qi General Tian Dan had guessed, when Zhao Run summoned his generals to discuss military affairs in the Xuanzheng Hall of the Daliang Palace that day, he was indeed inclined to adopt the tactic of "one defense and one attack": defense refers to Daliang, or it refers to Daliang. The main force under Zhao Run; while Gong refers to the 20,000 cavalry under generals such as Lu Mu, Mu Qing, Wu Wu, Lu Balong, etc., including the 40,000 Jiejiao Army under Wei General Bosile.
At this time, Zhao Run still did not know that the food and grass transportation method of the coalition forces of various countries mainly relied on waterways. Therefore, he decided to lead the main force himself to spend time with the coalition forces of various countries, and dispatched the Sichuan Luo cavalry and Jijiao cavalry. More than 60,000 cavalrymen went to cut off the coalition's food routes.
After all, in his opinion, the coalition forces of various countries still have 1.3 million people, and the daily consumption of military rations is believed to be an astronomical figure. Even if Yin is as rich as Qi State, he may not be able to support this army for long, so simply In other words, as long as he can hold on, this battle is destined to be a victory for his country Wei.
I have to say that for Wei, the most difficult thing was yesterday.
If Zhao Run hadn't put himself to death and survived yesterday, boosted the morale of his Wei soldiers, and repelled the coalition forces of various countries, then his 300,000 Wei troops would have been suppressed by the coalition forces of various countries that were several times larger than his own.
Fortunately, the most difficult moment has passed, and the Wei army, which came from Sanchuan County for support, has established a firm foothold in Daliang - this means that Wei can finally equalize its previous disadvantage and start the battle with the allied forces of other countries.
"Lu Mu, Mu Qing."
Zhao Run named the two clan guards and ordered them: "Next, I will temporarily hold my troops stationary in Daliang to deter the coalition forces from all countries. I order you two to lead more than 20,000 cavalry southward..."
After that, Zhao Run pointed to the map on the table in front of him and said in a deep voice: "As far as I know, Jingyun, Lord Shouling of Chu State, is still leading his army to attack Anling and Yanling in an attempt to achieve peace with Chu State.
Yujun Xiong Hu is attacking Shangshui. I hope you two will lead the cavalry south to break the siege of Shangshui..." At this point, he turned to look at Lu Balong and Meng Liang and asked, "What can you two do?
objection?"
Lu Balong and Meng Liang shook their heads and said on the spot that they would try their best to cooperate with Generals Lu Mu and Mu Qing.
At this time, Zhao Run turned to look at Wu Wu, the young leader of the Qingyang Tribe, who was also one of his brothers-in-law: "Brother, please lead the cavalry of the Qingyang Tribe, go around behind the coalition forces, and try to contact Bosile's Jijiao Army.
.”
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Wuwu responded with his fists clasped.
After that, Zhao Run arranged the tasks of the generals.
Zhao Shen, King of Chengling, still guards "Dongshan". After all, there are the royal tombs of his successive Wei kings on Dongshan, so he must not neglect them.
Later, Zhao Run promoted Zhou Ji to replace the late Jin Ju as the president of the Daliang Guards, and was fully responsible for the martial law and defense of Daliang City.
Zongwei He Miao was transferred back to Bolangsha and garrisoned at this river port.
As for Yecheng, in view of the fact that Hou Dan, the deputy general of the Daliang Guards, had made great achievements in defending Yecheng, he was not at a disadvantage in the face of Xiang Pei, Lord Xinyang of Chu State, and Wu Qi, General of Yue State. Zhao Run did not make any arrangements and just sent
Ren Ming Hou Dan strengthened his defense. After all, Yecheng was the center of all technology and crafts in the Wei State. Once it was captured by the Chu army, the consequences would be disastrous.
After everything was arranged, Zhao Run was alone in the Manlu Hall meditating.
In today's military meeting, some people actually suggested that he should take advantage of the victory and take advantage of the defeat of the coalition forces of various countries yesterday to step up a counterattack. However, in the end, this proposal was vetoed by Zhao Run.
Although Zhao Run acted as if he had everything under control yesterday, in fact, he was actually feeling very empty in his heart.
Just as he explained to Jie Ziu, he had no choice but to resort to tactics like breaking a can and crushing 300,000 Wei troops at once - otherwise, his newly arrived reinforcements would be suppressed by the coalition forces of various countries who were waiting for work.
, were suppressed to the point where they couldn't even set up a camp.
In the final analysis, yesterday's battle was just a big gamble by Zhao Run. He was betting that the coalition forces of all the countries might not be united, and that Lord Chu Shui might not dare to use all his troops to fight him.
Although he won by luck in the end, Zhao Run did not think that such a lucky advantage could help the Wei army defeat the coalition forces of various countries that were several times larger than his own.
What's more, after the coalition forces of various countries suffered a defeat yesterday, they will definitely learn from the pain and temporarily join hands with the outside world. If Zhao Run takes advantage of his previous victory and rushes into the enemy, then the outcome is not difficult to guess.
Dangerous moves are something that should be done occasionally. If you use them as a killing move every time, you will suffer the consequences one day.
At least that's what Zhao Run thinks.
In the afternoon of that day, Lu Mu, Mu Qing, Lu Balong, Meng Liang and others led more than 20,000 Sichuan Luo cavalry to move towards the south.
The main force under Wei King Zhao Run, with Daliang, Yecheng, and Dongshan as the core, quickly built camps and consolidated defenses to deal with the next attack by the coalition forces of various countries.
From August 19th to August 24th, small-scale frictions began to occur between the Wei army and the coalition forces of various countries, which meant that the morale of the coalition forces gradually recovered and they were preparing for the next attack on Daliang and Yecheng.
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Zhao Run was not surprised by this, nor would he be panicked by it, because as he said, the most difficult days for Wei in this battle were over. In contrast, he was more concerned about the news from the west.
The west side refers to the Qin Kingdom in the west.
In this battle, as long as Qin doesn't cause trouble, Wei's chances of defeating the coalition forces are actually not small.
But it is not an easy task for the Qin State to "stand still".
Standing up and walking to the window, Zhao Run looked to the west with his hands behind his back. Qin Shaojun Yingying's face could not help but appear in his mind.
Between her husband and her father, between her husband's family Wei and her natal family Qin, Qin Shaojun finally chose her husband and her husband's family.
According to reports from the Green Crows, on August 9, the third day after Zhao Run led his army from Luoyang, Qin Shaojun Yingying took a boat from Luocheng to Xianyang, the capital of Qin.
After several days, we finally arrived in Xianyang on August 12th.
On the day he arrived in Xianyang, Qin Shaojun did not go directly to see his father, King Qin, but went to see Tang Ju, the Wei envoy who was still stationed in Xianyang City at this time.
As early as a few months ago, Tang Ju came to Xianyang, the capital of Qin, trying to persuade Qin to step up its attack on South Korea.
After all, if the Qin State stepped up its attack on South Korea, it would firstly reduce the pressure on the Wei State in the confrontation with South Korea at the border, and secondly, it would eliminate the worries of the Wei State and not have to worry about whether Qin State, a powerful neighbor, would attack at a critical moment.
It's a knife.
But unfortunately, although the people of Qin are upright, they are not stupid, and Zhao Run's father-in-law, King Qin Hui, can also be called a wise king.
At that time, the old king saw that a war was about to break out between Wei and South Korea, so he immediately sent an order to Qin generals Gongsun Qi, Wang Jian and others who were still attacking Yanmen County at that time, ordering them to postpone the offensive.
Just as Zhao Run was worried, Qin also had concerns about Wei. You must know that for Qin, Wei is not only a powerful ally, but also a powerful country that blocks their presence in the Central Plains - precisely because of the huge Wei State.
The country blocked Qin's eastward route. In the past two years, Qin was forced to change its strategy and tried to start from Yanmen County in South Korea and set foot in the Central Plains in a roundabout way.
What's more important is that compared to Qin, Wei is more powerful. It's so powerful that even Qin can only avoid its edge and is honestly ranked second. This is really difficult for Qin, a country that is extremely offensive.
It's a very incredible thing.
But there was no way. Qin and Wei fought twice and lost both games.
I still remember that in the first confrontation, Zhao Run, who was still King Su at the time, wiped out Qin's 200,000 troops in one breath, severely damaging Qin's vitality; and in the second confrontation, Qin was directly attacked by Zhao Run on its homeland.
Even the capital city almost fell. If Wei had not been under the fierce attack of Chu and Han at that time, Qin might have really lost its capital.
It was these two defeats that almost completely destroyed Qin's original attempt to compete with Wei for supremacy, and instead concluded an alliance with Wei.
Even Zhao Run's father-in-law, King Qin Hui, believed that as long as his son-in-law was still in Wei, Qin had little chance of replacing Wei and settling in the Central Plains. Therefore, Qin had become quite knowledgeable over the years.
The Qiang people in the west and Yiqu in the north were fighting for trade with Wei and grazing war horses in the Hetao area. Even if Qin general Gongsun Qi attacked Yanmen County in South Korea, it was just an attempt by Qin:
He wanted to see if he could bypass the Wei State so that the Qin State could settle in the rich Central Plains.
But in the final analysis, Qin no longer dares to be on an equal footing with Wei - to be precise, it's not that it doesn't dare, but Qin people think they are inferior to Wei in everything.
However, unexpectedly, Wei's strength aroused the panic of the Central Plains countries, causing Han, Qi, Chu, Lu, and Yue to unite to attack Wei one after another. This refreshed King Qin's spirits.
Although it is true that the State of Wei is an ally of the State of Qin, it is natural that the King of Qin would feel depressed when he was always overpowered by his own son-in-law.
Therefore, before the war broke out between Wei and South Korea, King Qin chose to wait and see instead of supporting Wei.
The reason is simply that the Wei State is too powerful, so powerful that the Qin State has almost no chance of getting ahead. If this battle can weaken the Wei State a little, this will not be a bad thing for the Qin State.
When he first met Ying Ying, Wei envoy Tang Ju didn't come back to his senses for a while.
The reason is very simple, because Ying Ying came to Qin this time wearing men's clothes, which made Tang Ju immediately think of the Qin prince 'Qin Shaojun Ying Ying', but the problem is that as far as Tang Ju knew, That 'Qin Shaojun' had unfortunately passed away from illness a few years ago.
The current crown prince of Qin is the younger brother of "Shao Jun Ying Ying", the "Ying Zhu" who is said to have been weak since childhood.
"You are?"
When asking about this sentence, Tang Ju secretly muttered in his heart.
Seeing that Tang Ju looked suspicious, Ying Ying said, "I live in Youzhi Palace."
Upon hearing this, Tang Ju immediately woke up and quickly bowed and saluted: "It turns out to be Concubine Qin."
After that, he asked in confusion: "Is it possible that Concubine Qin returned to Qin to visit His Majesty the King of Qin?"
Yingying shook her head and asked straight to the point: "My husband ordered you to go on a mission to Qin to persuade my father to attack Yanmen County. How is your lobbying going?"
"Qin... country?"
Tang Ju glanced at the princess in front of him in surprise, and said with respect and a bit of shame: "I have failed your majesty's entrustment, and I have not been able to convince... King Qin so far."
Hearing this, Yingying frowned and asked, "Did my father just refuse? Did he not offer any conditions?"
Tang Ju thought for a while, shook his head and said: "His Majesty the King of Qin just declined politely for many reasons and did not set any conditions."
"Including the cession of Hexi, Hedong and Hanoi, there were no conditions?" Ying Ying asked again.
After hearing this, Tang Ju looked at Ying Ying in shock, shook his head and said, "His Majesty King Qin never mentioned this matter... I wonder where Concubine Qin heard about it?"
Ying Ying frowned and said nothing.
As the eldest daughter of King Qin Hui, and having always appeared as "Qin Shaojun Ying Ying", Ying Ying knew very well what her father wanted in his heart.
She did not doubt that her father had never thought of becoming an enemy of Wei, but she knew that his father very much hoped that Wei would open a road that would allow Qin to establish a foothold in the Central Plains, for example, Hexi, Hedong, and Hanoi— —It would be best to include Xihe, Hetao, Shangdang and other places.
Due to the relationship between Qin and Wei, Qin did not covet Wei's Sanchuan County and Yingshui County, but it hoped that Wei would at least give up Hexi, Hedong, and Hexi to Qin so that Qin could enter the Central Plains - - As for which direction Qin will eventually attack Han, Lu, Qi, or Chu after this, let’s not mention it.
But what surprised Ying Ying was that his father had not yet asked Wei envoy Tang Ju for "Three Rivers".
"Did your father change his gender?"
But after thinking about it, Ying Ying understood.
It seems that her father, King Qin, knew that his son-in-law, King Zhao Run of Wei, would never agree to cede Hexi, Hedong, and Hanoi. After all, the Zhao family of Wei State "will not pay indemnity, cede land, pay tribute, or make marriage." "The admonishment has already reached her father's ears through Ying Ying's mouth - I remember that her father praised her very much at that time.
Obviously, her father was still watching, waiting for the opportunity, and decided to wait until the Wei State, which could resist the Central Plains countries on its own, could no longer hold on, and then send envoys to raise the matter with his son-in-law Zhao Run. , three places in Hanoi as reward in exchange for the Qin army's full support for Wei in this war.
"My father still values the Great Qin Dynasty after all..."
Yingying sighed secretly.
From the perspective of the former "Qin Shaojun Ying Ying", her father's decision was certainly correct. After all, even her husband Wei Wang Zhao Run often said that "the interests of the country come first"; but as a daughter, Ying Ying How I hope her father can generously and selflessly help her husband's country tide over the difficulties this time.
After sighing faintly, Yingying said sternly to Tang Ju: "Lord Tang Ju, I will go to negotiate with my father. Please obey my instructions... This is also my husband's oral instruction."
As she spoke, she took out a golden order from her sleeve and hung it in front of Tang Ju.
Tang Ju was stunned for a moment. Although he had clearly seen that the golden token in front of him was indeed owned by the monarch of the Wei Kingdom, he still had some concerns in his heart - after all, the Qin Concubine in front of him was from the Qin Kingdom.
Thinking of this, Tang Ju asked tentatively: "I wonder how Concubine Qin plans to negotiate with His Majesty the King of Qin?"
After hearing this, Yingying lowered her voice and said a few words, which made Tang Ju's eyes light up slightly, and he quickly raised his hands and said, "Tang Ju is willing to follow the instructions of Concubine Qin."
"very good."
Yingying left the posthouse with satisfaction.
After leaving the post house, she turned her head and looked in the direction of Xianyang Palace. After a slight hesitation, she headed towards Xianyang Palace with her entourage and guards without hesitation.