Chen Zhen's analysis is down to the bone. Han Ping couldn't help but fell into deep thought: If he sent 20,000 troops to attack Qin, although the immediate crisis was relieved, not only the losses last year would be in vain, but also the hope of reconciliation with Qin would be completely cut off. Qin might continue to send troops to attack Han, instead of like now Defeat Wei; if they do not send troops, as Chen Zhen said, it means betraying the three-jin alliance. Realistically, the coalition forces will not attack Qin in the west, but attack Korea in the south. Although he understood the reason, he felt it was difficult to make a decision, so he saluted Chen Zhen and said, "I will bear in mind Duke Chen's teachings. I will report it to the prince. If you have any doubts, please ask for advice!"
Chen Zhen said: "When Prime Minister Han calls, I must obey."
Han Ping left the mansion and didn't know whether to go home or who to discuss with. He drove to Baoyuan and Prince Han's palace, and the retainers all replied that they had fallen asleep. He had no choice but to say: "Go home!"
After only sleeping for an hour, Han Ping got up, straightened his clothes, and drove into the court. Bao Yuan was carried into the court hall.
The doctor reported that a military envoy was sent from Xingyang, saying that at night the Xingyang coalition forces had ordered to break camp and prepare to move out. Bao Yuan reported that the coalition forces showed signs of invading South Korea, and he had ordered Huayang to prepare defensive equipment; if Huayang was attacked, Zheng should prepare for war.
The court meeting was over, and Prince Han announced his withdrawal from the court. Han Ping and Bao Yuan were left alone. Bao Yuan explained his strategy of defending the war, while Han Ping relayed Chen Zhen's analysis of the situation: The key to peace is not whether to break Wei Yi, but whether to send troops to attack Qin!
After listening to the analysis relayed by Han Ping, everyone fell into deep thought. Finally, Prince Han broke the silence and said, "What do you think, sir?"
Han Ping asked Bao Yuan: "Han sent 20,000 troops to attack Qin. What can I do?"
Bao Yuan said: "No way! All Zheng's elite soldiers were lost last year. Now that Zheng has failed to defend himself, how can he gain more than 20,000 soldiers?"
Han Ping asked Bao Yuan again: "If the coalition forces of Wei and Zhao come to attack, can Han retreat?"
Bao Yuan said: "The combined army of Wei and Zhao is 180,000 strong. If they go to attack Hangu, they will not be able to use it. If they attack Han, they will have more than enough. Today, Zheng's victorious troops are less than 100,000, and many of them are cunning and cowardly. Even if they can retreat the enemy, , there will be many casualties; the loss of four villages and the severance of trade routes are needless to say! If they don’t retreat after running out of food, there is no other way. "
Han Ping said: "If this is true, my plan is settled! It is impossible to attack Qin, and it is impossible to protect ourselves, but we can bring Qin to help."
Both of them said: "I would like to hear the details."
Han Ping said: "The Qin army, ten thousand strong, is in Xunan, and the road is exactly the same as Xingyang. If you ask for their help, you will be right."
Prince Han said: "How can the Qin army withstand 200,000 coalition troops if it has ten thousand people?"
Han Ping said: "But if they get help, they will kill each other. But I and Han are enough to control it. If the Qin army comes out of the suburbs of Zheng, how can Han sleep in peace?"
Prince Han asked: "Why?"
Han Ping said: "Chen Gong has an old relationship with Qin, so we must rely on him. The young master is now in the Qin camp, so I ask the young master to ask for help, and promise to give him food and grass."
Prince Han said: "If you are not dissatisfied, I will report it to the king. I will go to the south and north with the general, and each can take charge of his own affairs." The two of them bowed and retreated.
Han Ping first visited Chen Zhen and conveyed to Chen Zhen that since Han Jian did not attack Qin, he had been attacked by Wei and Zhao together, and Han was unable to support it alone, and he hoped that Qin would help. Chen Zhen said that he should inform the King of Qin and send troops to help.
Han Ping reminded: "The matter is urgent! The coalition forces of Wei and Zhao are going south today and have broken out of camp this morning. It will take half a month for the envoys to come and go, so it may be difficult to respond. I would like to ask the Southern Qin army to go north to help!"
Chen Zhen calculated it silently and said: "When Shaofu Han is in Xu Nan, he can ask for an alliance with Qin."
Han Ping said: "Greetings! I will send envoys to the young masters to discuss the alliance, but the Qin camp..."
Chen Zhen said: "Qin General Hu Yang is also a guest minister, and he has won the king's heart. There is no one else who can lead the alliance on behalf of the king."
Han Ping left the mansion and immediately called the doctor who was envoy from the Shaofu to introduce the current situation to them in detail: As the Qin people attacked Wei Yi, the combined forces of Wei and Zhao would invade Zheng Jiao; "May the Shaofu quickly make an alliance with Qin" , the Qin army came to rescue; all supplies of food and grass were provided by South Korea; the Shaofu followed the Qin people to Zheng Keye."
The two doctors repeated the oral instructions, contacted the five Korean soldiers, and set off on their way back.
After sending away the two doctors, Han Ping called Dian Ke and asked him to send envoys to Daliang and Xingyang. He must explain that the attack on Wei Yi was just a misunderstanding. Han Dang returned to Wei and asked the king of Wei to send someone to take over. Since Xingyang's army had already left camp, the pedestrians in both places were traveling on bicycles.
At dusk, the envoy to Xingyang came back first and reported that General Mang Mao had been ordered by the King of Wei to attack South Korea. The military order had been issued and the army was setting off. If it was to be stopped, the King of Wei must issue another military order. The envoy repeatedly stated that he had sent an envoy to Daliang, and there would be news soon. He hoped that the general would slow down his journey. After repeated requests, Mang Mao agreed to march only thirty miles a day. After three days, if there was no order from the king, he would meet the Korean soldiers.
Bao Yuan was worried and sent another retainer to Huayang to check the war preparations and report back in time. Notify Huayang that all preparations must be completed within three days.
The chubby Huayang Wei and the lean Han Bushen did not leave the city. Huayang Wei obediently gave up the front yard of Huayang Wei's mansion to Baoyuan's retainers. Han Bushen put down his body and took the initiative to run forward for Baoyuan's retainers. After running.
This retainer seemed to be very experienced in defense. He arranged the war defense equipment in an orderly manner and arranged the defensive troops section by section. He organized all the strong, old and weak, women and children who entered the city. He also collected all the food outside the city that could be harvested. Come into town. When he saw that the army had entered thirty miles outside the city, he closed the city gate.
The King of Wei did not issue an order to stop the attack...
The atmosphere in Huayang City is extremely tense! Everyone sat and rested in the city according to the order, and only necessary personnel were left in the city.
The military envoy came out of the city and conveyed the news of the arrival of the army to Zheng Guo.
On the same day, the order of Changshe also lowered the city and fled, conveying the news to Daliang that the Qin army had captured Changshe...
Mang Mao led his army to Huayang City. Seeing that the city gate was closed, he was not in a hurry to attack the city. He divided his troops into four and set up camps on all sides of Huayang City, each no more than five miles away from Huayang. Zhao Jun was placed in the south of Huayang City, closest to Zheng. Their mission was not to attack the city, but to block Korean reinforcements. If the Huayang defenders abandoned the city and fled, they would also be responsible for intercepting them. It took three days for an army of 180,000 to completely surround a small town with a radius of no more than a mile.
Then, Mang Mao ordered the old and weak civilian troops to harvest unfinished grain and other crops in the surrounding fields.
The Wei envoy entered the state of Zheng and severely condemned South Korea's betrayal of trust and betrayal of its allies. Han Ping firmly denied that the Qin army's move to capture Wei Yi had anything to do with him. He replied plausibly: "If our city obeys the order and raises troops from the big country, and the Qin people enter Changshe, what will General Zheng do? Since the big country is called to attack Qin, and Qin is in the south of Zheng, not in the north of Zheng, I hope the big country will attack in the south of Zheng!" "
The Qin army sent the Shaofu to Changshe, and only asked the Shaofu to escort the car into Zheng. He stayed in Changshe without any movement... It seemed that he had the intention of opening a military market again.
Mang Mao still slowly directed his troops to prepare siege equipment. Han Ping repeatedly sent envoys to urge Hu Yang to attack the garrison outside Huayang City, but Hu Yang remained unmoved. Han Ping had no choice but to invite Chen Zhen again.
Han Ping said: "I invite you to ask me to help you, and I promise to send you Qin's aid. The matter is urgent, but Qin's aid does not come, what can I do?"
Chen Zhen said: "I will invite the king, and if you want to ask Hu Qing, it is difficult for the king to do Hu Qing's trip. It is not what I can do."
When Han Ping saw that Chen Zhen was completely shirking the responsibility, he couldn't help but said angrily: "If I believe in Qin, it's because I believe in the public. The public said that I trusted Qin. Now the coalition forces are attacking Han, but the Qin army does not save them. How can this be the justice of the alliance?" ?”
Chen Zhen said: "Don't be angry, Prime Minister. Although the coalition forces have arrived, they are not in a hurry to attack, but they are just encircling them. If Qin's aid does not arrive, the king will help Jin to attack Qin, and the crisis will be solved!"
Han Ping said: "Allied forces are attacking Han. Han cannot put the ancestral temple in danger. I would like to pay homage to the King of Qin. If he can be saved, Han will come to Qin Dong's aid. If not, I would like to inform him early and Han will ask for him."
Chen Zhen said: "Since the prime minister has given orders, I must obey them. Now Huayang is surrounded, and there is no way to go north. What can I do?"
Han Ping said: "Going up the Qin River, there is a small path leading to Huohan. I would like to follow it."
Chen Zhen said: "Only obey the Prime Minister's orders."
Han Ping prepared five chariots and escorted Chen Zhen's chariot. Go out from the palace gate in the west of the city and go northwest along the Qinshui River.
Mang Mao and Hu Yang received the news that Chen Zhen was leaving the city almost at the same time. Hu Yang sent people to Zheng to inform him that the food and grass in Chengying and Daling had arrived, and the Qin army could move. He asked the King of Han to give instructions on the strategy of action and reserve food and grass there. Han Ping was overjoyed and quickly informed Bao Yuan. Baoyuan decided that Hu Yang's army would go north along the east bank of the Jishui River from Changshe, and Han would transport grain by ship and supply supplies with the army. He sent a retainer to discuss with Hu Yang with a map. At the same time, Han Ping was notified to arrange ships and food.
Hu Yang agreed to Baoyuan's arrangement. Breaking camp overnight, we arrived at the east bank of the Jishui River outside Zheng Guo City in the early morning, facing Zheng City across the river. Baoyuan and others had already secretly sent a large number of troops to hide under the city wall. However, the Qin army had something wrong and went to the city to defend it. Han Ping personally carried the grain across the river to comfort the Qin army.
Obviously, Baoyuan could not let the Qin army stay under Zheng City for a long time. After replenishing food and grass, the Qin army marched diagonally toward the northeast side of the enemy, regardless of the fatigue of a night's march. Since the closest distance between the Qin army and the coalition army was only twenty or thirty miles, both sides acted very cautiously. You could hear the sound of drums and bells one after another, and various flags waving left and right. However, the two sides only adjusted their formations, and occasionally small groups of soldiers came out of the formation, but there was no actual contact.
The first day of fighting ended in a test between the two sides. The two sides always maintained a distance of twenty or thirty miles, while Hu Yang's troops moved more than ten miles to the northeast.
The next day, Hu Yang continued to move northeast. The coalition forces seemed to have understood something, and sent a force from the army in Beicheng to extend the defense line eastward, as if to prevent Hu Yang's troops from continuing to move north. Hu Yang simply stopped the troops to see where the coalition forces would extend their defense. ——As a result, the coalition forces also stopped extending their defense line and instead built fortifications on the spot.
On the third day, the coalition forces discovered that the Qin army had jumped out of the defense line at night and advanced to the outside of the east extension defense line. In order to avoid being hit on the flanks, the defense line extending eastward was withdrawn under the cover of friendly neighbors.
