In the Handan Palace, King Zhao's face was particularly heavy. The ministers were sitting on both sides of him, and no one spoke a word.
"Yu Jun, I wonder how many soldiers we can still use at present?"
"Recruitment has begun in various places, and 20,000 soldiers have been recruited." Yu Qing replied. King Zhao nodded in a daze, and then he looked at Lord Linwu, who looked a little embarrassed by him.
He said helplessly: "Your Majesty, the Yan State has come a long way, and its soldiers are exhausted. If you can give me ten thousand elite soldiers, I can defeat the Yan State and capture Li Fu. But the twenty thousand soldiers you summoned are all gone."
They are frail old men and young children... They cannot draw their bows or even walk."
"And you don't have enough armor, shields, guns, and swords for 20,000 people. They only carry their own daggers and wear thin clothes. You don't even have food to feed them. They have to bring them themselves."
How can I command them if they have to fight with food?" Lord Linwu said excitedly: "Give me ten thousand... no, five thousand young men, equip them with weapons and distribute military rations, and I will do it immediately.
Lead them into battle."
King Zhao was silent for a moment and then asked: "Didn't you tell me yesterday that the most important thing in a war is the commander? You are a person who can observe astronomy and arrange the soldiers on favorable terrain, and Li Fu is not
You know how to fight, why are you worried about not being able to defeat him?"
Lord Linwu almost pulled off his beard. He widened his eyes and said, "Even so, it is impossible to bring 20,000 old, weak, sick and disabled people with nothing to defeat the 100,000 soldiers of the Yan Kingdom. They still have
There are two thousand chariots, and the State of Zhao does not even have one! How can we fight this? Even if you let Bai Qi, General Lian Po, and Ma Fuzi come as my deputies to fight together, there is no way to win!"
"Alas..." King Zhao sighed, looked at the ministers, and asked: "I have heard that ministers should share the sorrows of the monarch. Isn't it possible that no one among the second and third sons is willing to go to war?", he just said.
After that, Xu Li, who was sitting below, stood up and said seriously: "Sir, you don't have to worry. There are still 20,000 elite soldiers in Handan. They can go to war. Please allocate some manpower to me so that I can go to war."
"These soldiers are guarding the palace, how can they go on an expedition?!" King Zhao said angrily. He realized the strange looks in everyone's eyes, and then hurriedly said: "I am not afraid, but I heard that the soldiers of Yan State were divided.
Two armies, if the palace defenders are sent out, one arm of the Yan State entangles the defenders, and the other arm goes straight to Handan, then won’t the Zhao state be in danger of destruction?"
Xu Li was silent for a moment and then said: "Then please let me command the 20,000 soldiers I have recruited. I am willing to lead them into battle."
"Alas..." King Zhao sighed again.
Suddenly, the shouts of warriors came from outside the palace, and the noise started. King Zhao was shocked and stood up hurriedly. At this moment, he saw Zhao Kuo angrily breaking into the palace, with several warriors surrounding him.
, wanted to stop him, but did not dare to stretch out his hand. Seeing that the person coming was Zhao Kuo, King Zhao was very happy. He hurriedly walked up to Zhao Kuo from above and scolded the warriors severely.
"Ma Fuzi is a wise man of the State of Zhao. How can the second and third sons stop such a person? From now on, when Ma Fuzi comes to visit me, no one can stop him!", heard the order of King Zhao.
, the warriors lowered their heads and hurriedly agreed. King Zhao kindly pulled Zhao Kuo and let him sit in the frontmost position among the ministers. Lou Chang's eyelids twitched and he did not speak.
"What's wrong with Ma Fuzi coming here?"
"I really don't understand why you want to recruit those old men. They go to Changping. They will not do any good to the war, but only harm." Zhao Kuo said angrily. King Zhao was stunned and said with a wry smile: "I am not. I'm sending them to Changping... It seems you don't know yet, the Yan Kingdom has invaded, has captured Wu Sui, Quyang and other places, and is heading towards Handan... I must gather an army to repel the Yan Kingdom ah."
Zhao Kuo was stunned and slowly sat on his seat. At this critical moment, the Yan State actually invaded? But he didn't remember what the Battle of Changping had to do with the Yan State. This was the change caused by his arrival. Huh? Zhao Kuo was lost in thought and didn't know what he was thinking.
Lord Linwu said: "Why don't we mobilize an army from Changping and go to attack Yan."
Zhao Kuo shook his head and said: "The Qin people will definitely not miss this opportunity. They must have spread a lot of news about Yan's invasion in Changping. General Lian Po can stabilize the situation. The soldiers all believe in him, but Handan If troops are mobilized from Changping, it will prove that the news of the Qin people is true, and it will greatly shake the morale of the army. If the Qin people take the opportunity to attack, how can General Lian Po stop it?"
Lord Linwu asked again: "How about asking Qi for help?"
"They have captured Quyang. According to their current speed, they will arrive at the city in at least a month. Not to mention whether the Qi people will send reinforcements. Even if they do, will it be too late?" Yu Qing also said. He shook his head and said.
The ministers fell silent again, and so did King Zhao. He pondered for a moment and said, "I'd better start from Changping..."
"No need."
Zhao Kuo stood up. The young general's face was full of determination, and without any hesitation, he spoke:
"I am willing to fight and repel the Yan people."
"Okay!" King Zhao clapped his hands excitedly, his face flushed, and he said: "With Ma Fuzi commanding the 20,000 troops, what else do I need to be afraid of? Invite the two or three sons to prepare a banquet. I want to entertain Ma Fuzi. !", Zhao Kuo shook his head and said: "The war is critical, and I still want to know more about the war. As for the banquet, I'll wait until I defeat the Yan people, and then invite your Majesty to reward the army."
"Okay! Okay!" King Zhao said, looking at the censor on the side, and said hurriedly: "Hurry up and write it down!" The censor was stunned, then lowered his head and started writing in a hurry.
Zhao Kuo looked at Yu Qing and asked, "How is the situation in Yan State?"
"The State of Yan is led by Li Fu and Qing Qin. I heard that there are 100,000 soldiers and 2,000 chariots. Now Li Fu should be attacking Quan City, while Qing Qin is attacking Jiumen City. But I don't know if they have already Capture it." Yu Qing replied seriously.
Zhao Kuo was stunned for a moment, frowned and said: "In a war, the most important thing is this information. Only by knowing the true and false facts of the opponent can we win. Please send more people to explore the enemy's situation. Contact me at any time. Be sure to master the relevant information." The enemy's intelligence, this matter is very important!" Yu Qing was a little stunned. Logically speaking, he was a false appearance of the Zhao State. Except for Tian Dan and King Zhao, no one was qualified to give him such an order.
But for a moment, he didn't know why. He couldn't help but said: "I will follow your instructions."
"What about the current situation of Zhao State?"
"We have recruited 20,000 soldiers. There is not much food in the capital, so we can only give you 50,000 shi of grain."
"This?" Zhao Kuo was speechless. He clenched his fists and said, "Okay, I need a map."
King Zhao was very happy. He seemed to have recognized Zhao Kuo's victory. Lou Chang and other ministers were congratulating him, as if the Yan people had left. Lord Linwu wiped the sweat from his forehead, and there was something on his face.
Fortunately, Xu Li looked at Zhao Kuo quietly, hesitating to speak. Zhao Kuo stared ahead with a calm face. However, his whole body was cold, his hands and feet were stiff, and he found that he seemed to be unable to control himself.
He wanted to lead 20,000 soldiers to fight against 100,000 Yan soldiers. The 20,000 soldiers were all old men like Ping Gong, and there might be children of twelve or thirteen years old. He was very scared. He was afraid that he would die there.
He was afraid that he was going to die with these people, and he was even more afraid that the Yan people would march in and besiege Changping together with the Qin people. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be trapped and killed, and millions of innocent people who trusted and loved him would lose everything they had.
Everything you own.
He was so scared that he didn't know how he got out of the city, let alone when he returned to the horse uniform.
Sitting indoors blankly, he saw his mother. Zhao's mother learned from Ge that Zhao Kuo was about to go to war. The guests in the courtyard cheered. They couldn't wait to fight the enemy with Ma Fuzi, and immediately
After performing his meritorious service, sitting indoors, he could hear the laughter of the diners. Zhao Kuo just sat blankly in the corner of the room, closed the door, huddled up, and his whole body was trembling.
"Kuo..." Mother Zhao's eyes were red and she sat in front of him, "Get up."
Zhao Kuo seemed to suddenly come back to his senses. Looking at Mother Zhao in front of him, he suddenly hugged Mother Zhao, gritting his teeth, but tears kept falling from his eyes. His whole body was trembling, and he hugged her tightly.
He was looking at his mother. He didn't dare to cry out. He couldn't let the guests hear his cry. He just cried silently, and his tears soaked Mother Zhao's shoulders.
Zhao Kuo had tears streaming down his face. He choked, lowered his voice and said helplessly: