Accompanied by several roaring sounds, it seemed as if the entire Linzi City was trembling.
"What exactly is that?"
Next to Lu Bai, King of Qi, there was a palace minister with a pale face, trembling shoulders, pointing at the siege weapons outside the city, and asked with fear on his face.
Outside the West City Gate of Linzi, more than a hundred siege weapons were neatly lined up. These siege weapons looked like catapults, but their hit rate on hitting the city wall was much higher than that of catapults.
car.
Yes, this is the siege ballista of Wei!
It was precisely with this new type of war weapon that the Wei army was able to capture Qi's Pingyuan city in an extremely short period of time, and on the first day of attacking Linzi City, the Qi capital was bombarded to the point of collapse.
"put!"
In front of the Wei army's array, following the shouts of a Wei army general, more than a hundred siege ballistae were fired at once, and more than a hundred stone bullets as big as millstones were fired at the Linzi city wall facing them.
The Qi soldiers on the city wall once again experienced the feeling of the earth shaking.
"Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty, be careful..."
Several palace ministers were protecting the monarch of Qi, Lu Bai, but they were pushed away by the monarch.
He stood on the city wall with a sharp sword, his eyes fixed on the Wei army outside the city, and his lips trembled slightly.
A while ago, when he learned that the Wei-Korean coalition forces had broken through Pingyuan City and were heading towards Linzi, although Qi Wangbai felt panic in his heart, it was more of ambition caused by the huge pressure.
He thought of his father, King Xi of Qi, and remembered that when his father Lu Xi first came to the throne, South Korea sent troops to attack Linzi. At that time, his Qi State also lost Julunan Commandery, Pingyuan City, and almost all the cities like it does today.
It was about to be captured by the Korean army and reached Jishui.
At that time, everyone in Qi was in danger, or some people were secretly communicating with South Korea, trying to surrender to South Korea in advance to prevent their family or themselves from being implicated in this war.
When the country's life and death were at stake, Lu Xi decided to take charge of the army and fight in person.
What is incredible is that on the day of the expedition, Lu Xi was still drinking and having fun in the palace, talking and laughing.
After drinking to his heart's content, Lu Xi ordered the palace servants to prepare their horses and troops to go out. He took various war weapons from Lu State to support Qi State, crossed Jishui, and went north to fight against the Korean army, and finally won a hearty victory.
King Jian of Han, the leading lord of northern Korea at that time, no longer dared to underestimate Qi State. From then on, Qi State rose up in the Central Plains, overpowering Southern Chu and North Korea, and became the overlord of the Central Plains.
Keeping his father's glory in mind, when he learned that the Wei army was attacking, Qi King Lu Bai also inspired himself to use Linzi, the last isolated city, as a starting point to repel the Wei army and recreate the glory of his Qi state.
Yes, before the Wei army launched its siege ballistae, no matter how difficult the situation was, King Lu Bai of Qi still did not give up on repelling the Wei army and protecting the country's morale. Until the Wei army's hundreds of ballistae hit the city wall of Linzi one after another, the Qi King Lu Bai still did not give up.
The city wall was crumbling due to bombardment.
"Boom——"
With a loud noise, about two hundred feet to the north of the city gate tower, a section of the city wall collapsed. The Qi soldiers who were originally standing on the city wall screamed and fell to the bottom of the city, shaking the edge of the broken wall.
The rest of the Qi soldiers retreated one after another.
"well--"
Seeing this scene, Qi Wangbai let out a long sigh, and the fighting spirit that had been filling his chest disappeared in an instant.
Before that, he imagined the process of the Wei army's siege in his mind again and again, imagining that his Qi army could rely on the walls of Linzi, a strong city, to block the Wei army's offensive, and drag the battle endlessly until the Wei army
They retreated because they ran out of food and fodder.
However, the cruel reality told him that, let alone three months of delay, the city of Linzi might not be able to survive even ten days if it was delayed until the beginning of winter today.
No, just on the first day, the Wei army's siege weapons destroyed a small section of the city wall. At this rate, the Wei army was fully capable of demolishing all the walls of Linzi City in the next eight days, and the remaining day was used to capture the city.
, more than enough.
"Is this the end of our country's national destiny?"
Clutching the sharp sword in his hand, Qi King Lu Bai thought pessimistically.
At this moment, several ministers suddenly pointed excitedly outside the city and shouted: "Your Majesty, General Tian Dan, it's General Tian Dan!"
King Lu Bai of Qi turned his head and took a look, and saw a Qi army attacking the Wei army in the northwest corner of Linzi.
That was the army under Tian Dan.
After retreating to Linzi, Tian Dan built a camp about fifteen miles southwest of Linzi City, mainly responsible for containing Wei generals Zhao Jiang, Cao Yan, Sima Tao, Ji Wu and others; while Tian Wu stationed troops in Linzi
At the northwest corner, he was responsible for containing Wei General Le Yi, Yuanyi Marquis Han Pu, Qu Cheng, Ji Kuo and others.
Today, the Wei army launched a full-scale attack on Linzi. After Tian Dan learned about it, he immediately led his troops to support Linzi.
The confrontation between the Wei and Qi armies seen on Linzi City was the confrontation between Tian Dan and Zhao Jiang's subordinates Cao Yan, Sima Tao and other troops.
"General Tian Dan..."
"General Tian Dan..."
The ministers and soldiers on the city tower murmured, as if praying for Tian Dan's army in the distance, so that the latter could break through the Wei army's blockade of Linzi, and even repel the Wei army.
But unfortunately, Tian Danjun's current situation is not optimistic.
Because the Wei army Tian Dan is currently facing is Zhao Jiang's Hanoi army.
The Hanoi Army has two branches: the Shanyang Army and the Nanyan Army. The former is an infantry and is the only two iron-blooded armies in the Wei State that never retreated even if the entire army was wiped out - the other is "Daliang Army".
Praetorian Guards".
Can the weak Qi Ren shake the fierce Shanyang man who is not afraid of death?
Of course not!
Facing the offensive of the "Northern Navy" under Tian Dan, Zhao Jiang's favorite general Sima Tao firmly defended the defense line and blocked the wave after wave of offensives of Qi general Zhongsun Sheng.
Even though Tian Dan sent his general Dongguo Piao to lead the "Langya Army" to attack Sima Tao's tribe, Sima Tao's tribe was firmly rooted in the defense line and refused to retreat, blocking the two Qi armies to avoid disturbing the attack on Linzi.
Zhao Jiang, the king of Yan in the city.
It is no exaggeration to say that if Sima Tao had not strictly prohibited it, the Shanyang men of Wei under his command would even counterattack Qi. Sima Tao considered that this move might affect the Nanyan Army under Cao Yan and Ji Wu.
The Lu Di Army, then strictly prohibited it.
Compared with the highly motivated Wei army, the Lu army under Ji Wu seemed to be a bit inferior. When faced with the attack of the Jimo army under Tian Dan, they showed a scene of panic. Ji Wu was so angry that he scolded those Lu troops.
The local soldiers strictly guarded the defensive line and were not allowed to retreat.
Of course, even so, the Jimo army under Tian Dan still couldn't defeat Ji Wu's army. It's no wonder. After all, the Lu army under Ji Wu's command, although the ability of the soldiers is far inferior to that of the Wei soldiers, this army has a very complete
War weapons, especially after the state of Lu was reduced to a prefecture of the state of Wei, the Wei court sent a
Some craftsmen from Yecheng came to Xue County and organized local craftsmen from the former Lu State to build war weapons for the Wei army. This resulted in the Lu army under Ji Wu also having continuous crossbow chariots, sniper crossbows, etc. that originally belonged to the Wei state.
The unique war weapons made this army composed of Lu people suddenly increase their combat effectiveness a lot.
"That boy Sima Tao has done really well. His Highness, King Yan, deserves to be so highly regarded by him."
On the mound in the distance, Wei general Cao Yan watched the battle between Sima Tao, Ji Wu and others with Tian Dan's army, and joked with his subordinates.
The subordinates laughed and teased after hearing this: "The more outstanding General Sima is, shouldn't the general feel anxious? If this continues, the general may be outclassed by General Sima?"
"Fuck you." Cao Yan cursed with a smile, then waved his hand in preparation for an attack and said arrogantly: "I will always be the number one general under His Majesty's command!"
As the chief of the clan guard of Zhao Jiang, King of Yan, Cao Yan didn't care at all about Sima Tao, a colleague who was climbing up the ladder quickly, just like Zhao Jiang, King of Yan, didn't care about Le Yi, because their status and stance determined the relationship between them. There is no conflict of interest at all.
The only thing Cao Yan was worried about was that he was afraid that Sima Tao would steal the limelight.
Yes, Cao Yan has always been the most beloved general under King Zhao Jiang of Yan, but whether he is the most powerful general is unclear.
Looking at the battlefield at this moment, Sima Tao was one against two, blocking the Qi generals Zhongsun Sheng and Dongguo Piao. The pressure on Cao Yan was still quite high.
"Nan Yan Army, prepare to attack and attack Tian Dan's rear army in a roundabout way!"
Following Cao Yan's order, groups of Nanyan cavalry sprang out from behind the mounds. These Nanyan cavalry made a big circle and bit into the tail of Tian Dan's army, forcing the Qi army to be attacked from both sides.
The appearance of the Nanyan cavalry made Qi general Tian Dan feel quite powerless. You must know that today's Wei cavalry is not like what they did more than ten or twenty years ago, defeating the Sanchuan people, Zahu, and Linhu one after another. , after the Xiongnu and Korea, a large cavalry country, the Wei State had already summed up a complete tactical system for training cavalry, using cavalry, and restraining cavalry. Especially after absorbing the tactics of nomadic cavalry, the Wei State cavalry also knew how to detour and harass. Guerrilla harassment tactics such as repeated harassment, cross-harassment, etc., to put it bluntly, are to use the long-range attack advantage of crossbows to keep the enemy within the attack range of one's own side while staying away from the enemy's attack range, and to harass with frequent shooting to achieve the purpose of The enemy's troops were reduced in number, and even their morale collapsed.
Just like the Nanyan cavalry under Cao Yan at this moment, the Wei cavalry stepped on the stirrups, raised their crossbows and spread out towards the Qi army's array - shooting arrows on the galloping horses, this is only possible for nomadic people Wei's cavalry generally cannot meet this standard for what only elite warriors can do. However, if they only use crossbows to attack the enemy and use sheer quantity to improve accuracy, Wei's cavalry still has no problem with this. of.
This is not difficult to say, nor is it easy to say. For example, if you want to implement this tactic, the Wei cavalry must master the skill of loading crossbows on galloping horses, so as not to be thrown off the horse by the time. Or he was shot to death by the enemy's long-range weapons because he failed to estimate the distance to the enemy.
As for the Nanyan cavalry, as the veteran cavalry of the Wei State, the combat quality of the army's sergeants must be quite good.
After two hours of fighting, Tian Dan's army was repulsed by the Wei army. This famous general, who was highly anticipated by the soldiers and people in Linzi City at this moment, still failed to defeat the Wei army.
When he saw Tian Dan's army being repulsed by Wei's Nanyan cavalry from a distance on Linzi City, the last trace of luck in Qi King Lu Bai's heart disappeared.
Disheartened, he walked down the city wall and returned to the palace.
Seeing this, not far away, Zhao Zhao, the left prime minister of Qi, also sighed secretly and turned to leave.
At this moment, I believe he is the one with the most complicated mood.
Suddenly, Zhao Zhao stopped and turned to look at the palace ministers on the side, because he seemed to hear those people mention his name.
Perhaps because he noticed Zhao Zhao's gaze, one of the palace ministers' expression became a little embarrassed, but he quickly covered up the embarrassment and argued with a frown on his face: "Did I say something wrong? He was originally Wei.
The young master of the country, will the Wei army outside the city still harm him?"
"Stop talking... just say a few words."
The palace ministers nearby all pointed to the man who spoke openly.
"Is this what you were talking about..."
Zhao Zhao smiled bitterly to himself, pretended not to hear, and left on his own.
On the side, Zhao Zhao's Zongwei "Xu Yu" heard this and became furious. He was about to argue with the man, but Zhao Zhao grabbed his wrist and forcibly dragged him away.
Zhao Zhao turned around and left. The palace minister seemed to have caught something against Zhao Zhao. Even though he was stopped by several other colleagues, he still muttered: "Looking at his nonchalant look... He is indeed confident. He is
The brother of the King of Wei, after the city is broken, he can surrender to the Wei army and return to Wei safely..."
"..."
Hearing these words from behind, Zhao Zhao was heartbroken and walked away quickly.
"Shut up!"
Right Prime Minister Tian Bao happened to see this scene, rushed over from a distance, grabbed the skirt of the palace minister's clothes, lifted him up, and cursed: "If your words will not help us to repel the Wei army,
, just shut up!... Otherwise, before Wei Jun kills you, Tian Mou will kill you with one sword first!"
Facing Tian Bao, who had a squinting look on his face, the palace minister turned pale with fright, and his whole body collapsed.
"waste!"
Tian Bao dropped it casually and spat as a sign of contempt. Then he turned to look in the direction Zhao Zhao left, with a hint of worry in his eyes.
When Zhao Zhao climbed up to the tower to watch the battle, Tian Tabu actually noticed it, but just like Uncle Bao and others who also noticed Zhao Zhao at that time, Tian Tabu did not come forward to talk to Zhao Zhao.
It wasn't that there was any grudge between them because of the Wei army outside the city, but because under the current situation, Tian Dan, Guan Zhong, Uncle Bao and others really didn't know what to talk to Zhao Zhao.
"Master Zhao Zhao, you have been extremely kind and righteous to me, Da Qi..."
Tian Bao said secretly in his heart.
At the same time, Zhao Zhao had climbed down the city wall and returned to his Zuoxiang Mansion under the protection of a Zongwei.
Standing in the inner courtyard of the mansion, Zhao Zhao looked around at everything in the inner courtyard, but the sarcasm of the palace minister just now could not help but come to his ears. This gave him an inexplicable illusion: this house where he had lived for more than twenty years could not help but
The mansion suddenly became so strange for some reason.
Distraught, he returned to his study, ordered his servants to bring a few bottles of wine, and drank alone in the room.
To be honest, Zhao Zhao actually doesn't like drinking, because getting drunk will affect his decision-making as the left prime minister of Qi.
However, in recent years, due to the sharp deterioration of the relationship between Wei and Qi, Zhao Zhao wanted to avoid giving up all his power to the Right Prime Minister Tian Tao. From then on, Zhao Zhao gradually became accustomed to using wine to numb himself.
I don't know how long it took, but the door was gently pushed open, and the main wife, Zhuo Ji, and the side wife, Tian Wan, came to Zhao Zhao's study.
Seeing her husband drinking alone in the house, Zhui Ji and Tian Wan looked at each other, smiled and walked over: "Husband, Xu Yu told me that you are back..."
Zhao Zhao glanced at the door of the study, forced out a smile, nodded towards Zhui Ji and Tian Wan, and motioned for the two girls to sit down next to him.
After sitting down, Ji Ji hesitated for a while and asked: "Husband, can Linzi City... be defended?"
Zhao Zhao, who was holding the wine cup, was silent for a moment when he heard this, then shook his head and said melancholy: "The difference in strength is too huge..."
"so……"
Kui Ji and Tian Wan looked at each other, with deep worry on their faces.
However, there was no panic.
Because they also understood that even if the Wei army invaded Linzi, the Wei soldiers would not dare to do anything to their family. After all, their husband was the brother of the King of Wei and the brother of Zhao Jiang, the commander of the Qi army.
Zhao Zhao clearly saw the expressions on the two women's faces, and felt even more bitter in his heart.
Because he knew that his wives and concubines might have been thinking about what would happen after the fall of Qi, which made him couldn't help but echo the sarcastic words of the palace minister again.
"Go back to Wei...?"
A somewhat complicated wry smile appeared on his face.
Zhui Ji and Tian Wan raised their heads and looked at Zhao Zhao, with a bit of confusion on their pretty faces.
They were not surprised that their husbands would mention the words "return to the Kingdom of Wei". After all, their husbands were originally from Wei and were also the sons of the Kingdom of Wei. The problem was the tone in which their husbands said this.
"Back then, when I, the Wei Dynasty, was in trouble, I volunteered to be a hostage, hoping to get the King of Qi to help me, the Wei Dynasty. At that time, I thought that I might stay in Qi State as a proton for the rest of my life. However, God just gave me
It was a joke." Zhao Zhao said quietly, playing with the wine cup in his hand.
Indeed, if Zhao Zhao stayed in Qi as a proton, then he should be happy to see that Wei became more and more powerful.
Now, with the Wei army aggressively attacking Qi, he even felt excited, because it meant that his proton career would come to an end.
But unfortunately, his status in Qi State was not a pure proton from the beginning. He was the son-in-law of Lu Xi, the ancestor of Qi State, and the left prime minister of Qi State.
Under this premise, when he saw Wei's army attacking Qi, he really couldn't laugh.
"Husband..."
There was a hint of fear on Luo Ji's face, as if she had a premonition that something she didn't want to see would happen.
"...My father-in-law generously gave a helping hand and sent troops to contain the Chu State, so that I, the Wei Dynasty, could avoid being attacked by the Chu State. This kindness will be unforgettable in my life. Therefore, after becoming the Left Prime Minister, I never dared to slack off.
…all this time, I’ve tried my best
I tried my best to promote the good relations between Wei and Qi, so that I can be worthy of both Wei and Qi, but I never thought... Haha, maybe this is the so-called fish and bear's paw, you can't have it both ways.
No matter how hard you try to get it, you won’t get it in the end.”
Zhao Zhao shook his head.
He remembered the last time he returned to Wei, that is, after the death of his father, King Zhao Si, he returned to Wei to attend the funeral. At that time, his younger brother Zhao Run, now the monarch of Wei, begged him to stay in Wei.
country.
Zhao Zhao did not agree at that time because he felt that King Lu Bai of Qi, Tian Tao, Gao Xi, Guan Zhong, Uncle Bao and others all trusted him and allowed him to return to Wei alone to attend the funeral, so he must respond to the trust of these people.
, since I said I would return to Qi, then I must return to Wei.
After he returned to Qi, his younger brother Wei Wang Zhao Run, who had frequently corresponded with him, also lost contact with him.
This is not a question of profit or loss. Although Zhao Zhao was the left prime minister in Qi State, if he had broken the agreement with Lu Bai, Tian Bao, Guan Zhong, Bao Shu and others and decided to stay in Wei State,
Could it be that he will be idle in Wei?
With his ability, he is enough to rank among the ministers of the inner dynasty and even the prime minister of Wei State.
Yes, it’s not about profit, it’s just about faith!
But what Zhao Zhao couldn't bear was that after he had paid so much for Qi, there were still people who doubted him and mocked him for being the person who least cared about the "Wei-Qi War". This made Zhao Zhao feel quite sad.
Uncomfortable.
"...Maybe it's because of my lack of talent and virtue." Zhao Zhao said bitterly.
"Husband." Concubine Ji hugged her husband distressedly and said with a choked voice: "Did someone gossip? Who was that person? I call him Xiaobai..."
She originally wanted to ask her brother Lu Bai to teach the gossip, but when she said the words, she suddenly realized that her country, Qi, was now on the verge of collapse.
Taking the hands of Kui Ji and Tian Wan, Zhao Zhao gently told him: "The commander of the Wei army outside the city is my brother Zhao Jiang. If you two declare your names as husbands, he will see that my brother and I are together."
For the sake of the market, please provide proper arrangements for your mother and son."
The expressions of Kui Ji and Tian Dan suddenly changed, and the former exclaimed subconsciously: "Husband, what about you?"
Zhao Zhao shook his head, hugged the two girls in his arms, and drank one glass of wine in silence.
After filling up the last glass of wine, he exhaled melancholy and murmured: "It's time..."
As he said that, under the horrified looks of the two women, he stood up and walked towards the wall. He straightened his clothes and hair crown in front of the bronze mirror on the wooden cabinet on the wall.
Then, he took out a wooden box from the drawer of the wooden cabinet and returned to his original seat with the wooden box.
After sitting back to his original position, he opened the wooden box, took out a delicate small porcelain bottle, and poured the powder inside into the wine cup.
Seeing this, the expressions of Kui Ji and Tian Wan suddenly changed, and they grabbed their husband's hands in unison, shook their heads and begged: "No, don't..."
Zhao Zhao smiled slightly, patted the backs of Zhuo Ji and Tian Wan's hands, and then picked up the glass of wine.
"...I am the son of King Wei and the son-in-law of King Qi. However, I am neither helpful to Wei nor to Qi. I am truly an incompetent person."
After that, he drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.
Seeing that they could not stop their husband after all, both Zhui Ji and Tian Wan fell into their husband's arms and cried sadly.
Gently hugging the two beloved women, a warm look appeared on Zhao Zhao's sad face.
"Fortunately, a person as incompetent as me can still win the favor of two beauties in this life, so this life may not be in vain."
After that, he slowly closed his eyes and held his children in his arms, as if he was carefully savoring the last tenderness of the couple.
After a while, his head slowly lowered, and the hands holding the two women also dropped weakly.
Seeing this, the two girls cried sadly.
In September of the seventh year of Wei Zhaowu, on the eve of the Qi State's capital Linzi being about to be captured by the Wei army, the Qi State's left prime minister, Wei Gongzi Zhao, drank poisoned wine and committed suicide. He gave up returning to the Wei State to continue to enjoy the glory and wealth, and chose to die as a Qi State minister.
He died in order to fulfill the promise he made when he begged King Xi of Qi for reinforcements on behalf of the state of Wei, "to stay in Qi for the rest of his life."