The Chu State has many nobles, who sit in various places and have relatively great power. For the Chu State, this is an important factor that hinders its struggle for hegemony with the Qin State. Because the internal structure is not unified and disorganized, even the army cannot do it.
Unification, this is a very bad thing, but from another perspective, such an internal situation is not completely useless. The most important thing is that the King of Chu does not have to worry about money and food.
The princes from all over the country have the obligation to serve the King of Chu in wartime, and they have to bear the food and weapons themselves. Therefore, the Chu State can recruit hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but it will not directly collapse the Chu State's treasury. Moreover, these rural areas
The nobles, big and small, with very strong feelings will spontaneously bring their private soldiers and retainers to participate in the battle. At some point, they will take advantage of the Qin army's unfamiliarity with the terrain to attack the Qin army occupying the countryside.
Attack and harass logistics and food channels.
The Chu State also knew what it was facing this time. Many nobles worked together to defend the Chu State. These barbarians from the Chu State were very bloody when they attacked. Almost few nobles surrendered or were captured or fought.
Death, or defeat and suicide. As the general, Xiang Yan was also worried at this moment. Zhao Kuo defeated his left-wing defense line, causing Jiujiang, Changsha and other areas to lose contact with him.
Facing the huge Chu State, Zhao Kuo chose cutting mobile warfare, which was to divide the Chu State into four parts from two directions and slowly annex them. In this way, he could effectively prevent Xiang Yan's strategic depth. In fact, like
Wang Jian and Li Mu may not be able to use such a strategy, because such command requires too many things. Zhao Kuo has such experience, but the experience of the others is still lacking.
Zhao Kuo himself led the army, conquered Juchao and other places, led the army to the vicinity of Lushan Mountain, and directly cut the Chu State in a straight line, while Li Mu's rapid advance rushed directly from Changsha to the vicinity of Qiantang,
The Chu State was cut horizontally again. As a result, the Chu State could not be integrated together, and the four parts fought independently. Zhao Kang quickly captured all the Chu land north of the giant nest, and the Chu State was in danger.
It seems not feasible for Xiang Yan to retreat while fighting, because the Chu battlefield was cut into four pieces by Zhao Kuo. Xiang Yan could only choose to open up the connections between these areas to prevent them from being quickly occupied by Qin.
Annexation, but the King of Chu wanted to continue running, because Li Mu had already reached here. This war entered the most anxious state. The Chu people who did not want to see the country's destruction exerted their strongest fighting power, and in Guangling
In other places, they even started a counterattack for a time.
The young people of the Chu State were constantly transferred to the battlefield by the officials. They had no weapons or food, and even had to take farm tools or old and worn-out equipment to participate in the war. The lives of these young people were constantly in danger.
After being terminated on the battlefield, Zhao Kuo became more and more busy. The Qin State must not fall into the quagmire and must solve the Chu State as soon as possible. However, the cultural customs of different parts of the Chu State are too different.
Many areas that have been captured will still have rebellions and turmoil. Zhao Kuo must be extremely careful. Qin's strength is indeed terrifying, but what he has to do is to end the war at the minimum cost. These young soldiers
They were the same age as his son, and he couldn't watch them die in a meaningless battle here. Even if a soldier died, he would feel very distressed.
When Zhao Kuo approached the South China Sea, he had already penetrated the Chu State. Next, all ministries cooperated to annihilate the effective forces of the Chu army on the four battlefields. Zhao Kuo sat in the camp and quickly
Wang Jian encountered the biggest obstacle in arranging his strategy. This is also where Xiang Yan's main force is located, so he cannot attack rashly. What he needs to capture now is the Chu land in the southwest. Then the army will gather and directly
Unplug the southeast.
Zhao Kuo was busy when a scout hurried in and said, "Marquis Wu Cheng, there is a letter from Xianyang."
Zhao Kuo was a little surprised. He raised his head, glanced at the scout, and asked the scout to put the letter aside. Then he continued to talk to several generals about the direction of the next attack. Zhao Kuo said: "Let Wang Jian hold back Xiang Yan's main force.
The army does not require him to be annihilated, as long as he can open up the connection with Quyang!"
"Ask Li Mu not to approach Qiantang easily. There are a large number of Chu troops on both sides of Qiantang. With his current number of troops, if he attacks rashly, he may be intercepted here. Let him be prepared to go north to support Wang Jian.
Get in touch with Wang Jian earlier, let Zhao Kang continue to advance, and settle the northern counties along the water, and tell him that he is not allowed to massacre county towns or kill prisoners!!"
"Li Xin, go and read a letter for me..." Zhao Kuo called to Li Xin, then looked at the other generals and continued: "Qiang Yu, you lead the chariot troops to attack Nanye and others.
After capturing the area, don't act rashly and wait for my military order. Si, you are responsible for heading to the Xiangshui River. General Li Mu's main force is heading towards Qiantang. This area has been occupied by the rebels again. You have to take back the surrounding counties. At the same time,
We need to investigate those hiding rebels, but don’t accidentally hurt the people!”
"only!"
"Wucheng Hou, General Li Mu sent a battle report. His vanguard troops encountered the king's army of Chu. The number of the king's army was about 60,000. General Li Mu said that these people were temporarily summoned by the king of Chu. They were all old men.
Weak, without decent weapons and equipment... This army is preparing to go north to reinforce Xiang Yan's tribe. At the same time, an army is transferred from Luling, and the target seems to be the Wushang area... General Li Mu is waiting for your order.
"
Zhao Kuo was busy, and Li Xin, who did not have to go on an expedition for the time being, picked up the letter. He lowered his head and read it for a moment. When he was about to read it, he suddenly froze. His face changed drastically, he was speechless and hesitated.
After a long time, he couldn't help but look at Zhao Kuo, and interrupted him in a low voice, "Wuchenghou...this...your family letter." Zhao Kuo, who was giving the order, stopped and looked at it.
Li Xin took the letter from his hand with an unnatural look on his face.
Zhao Kuo took the letter and looked down at it for a few times.
Suddenly, he was stunned.
He looked at the letter in his hand and remained motionless.
The generals around him were still talking about the upcoming war and the movements of the Chu army, but Zhao Kuo couldn't hear anything. He only felt a buzzing in his ears and the world was spinning. Li Xin looked at him worriedly.
, he looked at Zhao Kuo's increasingly pale face, wanted to say something, and opened his mouth, but he didn't know how to comfort him. At that moment, Zhao Kuo's face became extremely ugly, and his hands were trembling.
"Wuchenghou...General Li Mu is still waiting for your order...Wuchenghou? Wuchenghou?? You are fine??"
I'm fine." Zhao Kuo folded the letter and put it in his arms. He looked at the generals. The generals also stopped and stared at him, completely unaware of what was happening. Zhao Kuo lowered his head.
Looking at the map in front of him, he said: "It is impossible for the king's army to reinforce Xiang Yan. Xiang Yan himself wanted to retreat. How could he summon reinforcements? Luling also sent troops at the same time. This reinforcement army was attracting Li Mu.
We are going to pursue him. This Luling army wants to open up the road cut off by Li Mu and welcome Xiang Yan back."
Zhao Kuo analyzed it carefully. As he spoke, tears fell from his eyes.
Tears fell on the wooden case in front of him, but Zhao Kuo did not stop. He said: "Ask Li Mu to ignore this king's army, and ask him to turn around and attack this Luling army. Tell Zhao Kang to let him...
Let him send an army of 20,000 people to Quyang. If the Chu army approaches the northern battlefield, let him go and defeat it...If it doesn't come close, ignore them."
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"Is there anything else?" Zhao Kuo raised his head and asked.
The generals looked at Zhao Kuo quietly, looking at the tears on his face, but they didn't know what to say. They suddenly understood in their hearts that something was wrong with Wu Chenghou's family. They shook their heads and said, "Let's go and execute it right away."
.”
"Okay, let's go."
The generals all left, their faces full of confusion but a little distressed. Seeing Zhao Kuo looking so sad, they felt really uncomfortable.
When the general left, Li Xin did not follow him. When Li Xin saw the upright general in front of him, he immediately stooped down. He bent over and sat down slowly. In about an instant, he became
He was a little old, and his whole body was trembling slightly. He didn't say a word, just sat there for a long, long time... Li Xin said: "Junhou, the king wants you to return to Xianyang... When do you want to go back to Xianyang?"
Set off?"
"Junhou?"
Zhao Kuo raised his head and looked at Li Xin in front of him blankly. He looked at it for a moment and said, "I can't go back yet."
"But..."
"So far, all strategies have been formulated by myself. If I leave, all places will fall into chaos for a short time. Wang Jian is in Guangling and there is no way to take over... The resistance in various places in Chu State is very strong.
The land is vast and very different from the situation in Yan State. The people here hate us. The King of Chu is still recruiting soldiers. If you are not careful, this war will become a protracted war. By then, more than fifty people
Tens of thousands of people are spending time here, what an impact it will have."
"But you..."
"It's okay with me. You are not allowed to tell anyone about today's matter. If it is leaked, I will deal with you according to military law."
"only!"
"Then General Zhao Kang's place..."
"I will tell him, you go out first and come to me if you need anything..."
Li Xin also walked out of the camp, and Zhao Kuo was sitting here alone. Then he tremblingly took out the letter from his arms. Looking at the letter in his hand, he finally couldn't help it and cried silently. Zhao Kuo almost collapsed.
However, he could not go back, and he could not go back. The war was not over yet. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people were in his hands, and the future of millions of people was in his hands. He had something to do.
The next day, Zhao Kuo walked out of the camp, and the generals were surprised to find that Zhao Kuo was old.
His stature was stooped, his face was pale, and even his hair and beard were mixed with countless silvery whites, which was a bit unacceptable. Zhao Kuo summoned the generals, got ready, got on the military chariot, and continued to move forward. Zhao Kuo still commanded
Army, but he still changed a lot. He no longer joked like before. He was always in a daze, dazed, and you could often see him wiping his tears. Under the command of Zhao Kuo, the Qin army once again won
A major victory.
As expected, the king's army was the bait. Li Mu gave up the pursuit and turned back to attack Luling's army, wiping out the elite force of more than 50,000 people. The bait also fell into the hands of Zhao Kang. General Zhao Kuo
His army was divided in all directions, and he cooperated with Li Mu's army to capture the entire southwest region within two months. By this time, Chu's army was completely squeezed into the southeast corner and was trembling.
Zhao Kuo began an all-out organized attack, and troops from all over the country gathered in the southeast direction. For a time, soldiers from the Qin State were passing through all parts of the Chu State. These soldiers looked solemn, looked ahead, and moved toward the southeast in an orderly manner.
Advancing, this posture scared the Chu people so much that they did not dare to go out, and the nobles from all over the country were also chased by Qin soldiers along the way, and fled in all directions, some even further south.
At this time, Zhao Kuo had already arrived in Luling, which had been captured by Li Mu not long ago. It also became Zhao Kuo's temporary headquarters for the Chu State. Wang Jian's offensive became more and more fierce, and Xiang Yan was unable to persist.
And Li Mu was behind him, watching eagerly. As for the King of Chu, he was hiding in Qiantang at the moment, watching the Qin army that surrounded him from all sides. He finally fell seriously ill and could not afford it. Although he did not die, he was probably not far away.
Already.
All the heavy burdens of the Chu State fell on Xiang Yan.
This general who had fought for Chu for generations was now in a desperate situation. Zhao Kuo did not pity him. Instead, he took advantage of his weakest moment to launch an all-out attack. The Qin army, led by those famous generals,
Attacks were launched from all over the country, but within a few days, the Chu State was defeated one after another. Xiang Yan was first defeated by Wang Jian, and then was defeated by Li Mu when he broke through Li Mu's defense line and prepared to return to Qiantang.
When he was about to take a detour to attack Luling, he encountered Zhao Kang's army again. The two sides fought and Xiang Yan was defeated again.
Chu's hundreds of thousands of troops were cut into four pieces by Zhao Kuo and then easily annihilated. Now Xiang Yan's hundreds of thousands of troops are trapped in a small territory and besieged from all sides. Under such circumstances
, he could not support Qiantang and other places. A month later, the main army of Qin State broke through Qiantang and other areas. The southeast of Chu State was really a barbaric land, and even Liaodong of Yan State was much better than here.
When Zhao Kuo was watching a certain famous TV series, he once saw a scene where miasma was so rampant that soldiers could be poisoned to death if they drank water. He thought it was just a dramatic treatment, but when he came to the Chu Kingdom
When he visited this land, he finally understood that it was true. There were many areas here that no living person could approach, with poisonous water sources, and ferocious beasts everywhere. Let alone developing this place, even if he just wanted to live here, he would not be able to live here.
Not an easy thing.
In the same month, the King of Chu died of illness, and the Qin army captured Qiantang and other southeastern counties. In the entire Chu country, only Xiang Yan led an army of less than 100,000 and struggled to hold on.
