The northern border of Zhao State is thirty miles southwest of Fanwu.
A pair of tiger-like eyes stared straight ahead, looking particularly cold in the dark night.
There were countless lightly armed soldiers lying in ambush around him, all wearing night clothes and climbing steadily on the hillside.
And looking around, not only this hillside, but also the hillsides behind there were hiding countless ambushes.
A Tanma who was also wearing night clothes came to the leader and said in a low voice: "Commander, the front has been identified. The ones stationed in front are indeed Huanjue's main army, with a strength of 20,000 and another 30,000. The army is besieging Panwu City."
It turns out that this leader is Li Mu!
He narrowed his eyes and asked in a low voice: "How well prepared are they?"
The Tanma replied: "There are no heavy equipment. They must have been used to attack the city."
"Have you discovered us?" Li Mu asked again.
Tan Ma said: "We are all undercover sentries. We have been keeping an eye on them for two days. The information we got was not from grabbing tongues, but from hijacking the letters they sent to Xianyang, so we got the news."
"What about the letter?"
"It's being sent here. It will be delivered in about half an hour." Tanma replied.
"I want to see that letter with my own eyes." Li Mu said in a low voice, "Go and find out whether they have reinforcements."
The detective horse retreated in response and disappeared into the night.
A man flashed beside Li Mu, and he came closer and said, "The marshal is betting that Huan Jue will come alone this time?"
Li Mu smiled slightly and said: "Lord Sima, I asked you to disguise the rear army escorting grain and grass as the main force of the Chinese army to regain the city. This is to confuse the Qin army. As long as they don't find our traces, they will not come to rescue Huan Jue. "
It turned out that the man was the warlord Sima Shang.
Sima Shang said: "There is a pioneer Liu Yun over there in Yecheng who is watching. Besides, we don't really want to fight. I was afraid that you wouldn't have any help, so I rushed over quickly."
"That's fine." Li Mu said, "This way, Huan Jue will never come back."
"After Huan Jue is dealt with, we will surround Fanwu's 30,000 Qin army." Sima Shang said, "We will definitely kill them all."
"Is there any movement over there in Changping?" Li Mu asked instead.
Sima Shang shook his head: "Wang Jian still stood still. Wang Ben didn't go east again, but he didn't stay in Yecheng either."
"Then where is he?"
Sima Shang shook his head again: "It's not clear yet, Liu Yun hasn't sent the latest news yet."
Li Mu thought about it for a moment, and then said: "Even if Wang Ben comes to meet Huan Jue, there won't be many men. Let's defeat them one by one."
Sima Shang said hesitantly: "If our side destroys Huan Jue, then Wang Jian will definitely know that the main force of the army is on our side. Do you think there will be any danger on Liu Yun's side?"
"Hmph!" Li Mu said coldly, "As the saying goes, strike first to gain the upper hand. As long as Liu Yun does not confront Wang Jian head-on and can delay us until we cut off Wang Jian's retreat, then the Qin army in the entire Zhao territory will be wiped out. .”
Li Mu is worthy of being a famous general. No matter who he fights against, he will clearly find the opponent's weakness, and it is also the most critical fatal weakness.
He had long noticed that the Huanjue army invading the northern border did not seem to be under Wang Jian's control. Instead, it formed its own team and was eager to perform meritorious deeds. At the same time, he had no intention of taking care of each other with Wang Jian, and its number was only 50,000. .
If the Zhao army spreads its front line and confronts Wang Jian and Huan Jue's armies in the north and south at the same time, it can be said that no one can take advantage when their forces are about the same.
However, if the two groups of Qin troops are not coordinated and focus on the weakness of the two groups, and concentrate their forces in one place, surround them at different points, and defeat them one by one, then the Zhao army will definitely win.
Unless Wang Jian had noticed it early, he would either rescue Huan Jue or fight directly to Handan.
At present, Changping's army is standing still, which shows that Wang Jian has no choice between these two strategies, but wants to stick to the six cities he just captured.
But after all, Wang Jian also
He was a general as famous as himself. Li Mu did not dare to underestimate him, so he sent hundreds of scouts to report Wang Jian's movements in turn.
At present, Wang Jian is still guarding Changping, and he has taken advantage of the night to go around to the rear of Huanjie. Together with the cavalry sent to the north of Huanjie before, it can be said that Huanjie's central army has been encircled. .
After receiving the intercepted letter, Li Mu read it over and over, then looked at the moonlight again, calculated the time, and ordered: "The whole army moves forward lightly, prepare rockets, and raid the Huanjie Camp!"
A group of messengers spread out to the rear and conveyed orders.
There was no sound of hooves, no horns, and no drums.
Everything happened silently in the dark night, making it difficult for people to detect easily.
After midnight, a fire suddenly lit up in the direction of Huanjue Camp.
Accompanying the fire was the sudden cry of killing and the sound of swords clashing together.
——————
At the same time, Daliang City of Wei State.
The anxious King Wei was still staring at the letter in front of him, wondering what he was thinking about.
Wei Mingyuan on the side seemed to be tired from standing, and asked: "Your Majesty, how should we deal with the envoys from the foreign countries to the west?"
The King of Wei sighed softly and said slowly: "We, China, are a country of etiquette, and we should treat envoys from foreign countries who come to visit us with courtesy. But...but what kind of relationship they have with Qin, who can say clear?"
Wei Mingyuan said: "It is normal to say that the Dawan Kingdom, the Persian Kingdom, and the Qin Dynasty have had business contacts for a long time. It is impossible to say how close the relationship is."
"Why?" King Wei asked.
Wei Mingyuan cleared his throat and analyzed: "Now that Da Qin has opened the trade route to the Western Regions and is bordering the Western Regions, the Western Regions must be wary of Da Qin. Just like we also have trade relations with Da Qin, but in terms of government affairs, it is Fire and water are incompatible."
"Secondly, if we exclude the Western Regions, Dawan, and Persia, we will only force them to cooperate more closely with Great Qin."
"On the contrary, if we can have a good relationship with them, we can compete for the interests of Da Qin and put the money that Da Qin should have earned into our pockets."
King Wei narrowed his eyes and nodded slightly: "What you said makes sense. If we take away the business that belongs to Great Qin, it will be equivalent to weakening Great Qin and increasing our strength at the same time."
"Exactly." Wei Mingyuan said, "I heard that Prince Named came all the way with dozens of carriages of gold and silver. If this money was put into Ying Zheng's pocket, it would be even more detrimental to us. "
The King of Wei wondered: "Since they came from Xianyang, why didn't they buy the goods they needed from Qin?"
Wei Mingyuan cupped his hands and said: "We have checked and found out that what Prince Named needs this time is food for farming. I think that barbarian lands mostly focus on grazing. Even if there is good land, there is no good land." Excellent seeds and technology.”
"Now that the Qin State is at war with the Zhao State, they will definitely not sell them food and seeds, so they can only cross the Qin State and continue eastward to seek help."
"Then if we sell food to them, what will happen if we start a fight with Da Qin?" King Wei asked slightly worriedly.
"It all depends on the price offered by Prince Mode." Wei Mingyuan said, "If the price they offer is much higher than the normal market, then we will sell to them and then buy it from Qi or Chu at a low price. Add more over there.”
"As for the border, I heard that Zhuge Hui has withdrawn his troops. It seems that they are just wary of us sending troops to assist Zhao. As long as we stand still, the border will be peaceful. After all, Da Qin does not want to fight on two fronts."
King Wei stood up and paced back and forth, thinking about what Wei Mingyuan said and weighing the pros and cons.
Wei Mingyuan's analysis was correct. Prince Moder came to buy grain. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It could not only replenish the national treasury, but also draw closer relations with Persia and even the Western Regions, thereby gaining long-term benefits and weakening the Qin's influence on the west. .
If the Western Regions can help jointly deal with Da Qin in the future, the world will definitely change.
Big changes will happen.
After an unknown amount of time, King Wei finally stood firm and seemed to have made up his mind.
"Prince Named and Ambassador Kukanchi have gone somewhere, and they went out of the city to greet them with me!"
"Wei Chen will make arrangements now." Wei Mingyuan got the order and stepped back quickly.
King Wei returned to his seat and wrote a letter to King Qi - buy grain!
Mode and Kukanqi, who came out of Xinzheng, led the team eastward along the south bank of the Yellow River and crossed the border of Wei State without any obstruction.
After submitting the credentials to the local officials, we traveled slowly while appreciating the customs and customs of Wei State.
"Brother," Mod said to Kukanchi, "You said King Qin asked us to come to Wei, didn't he mean to make things difficult for us?"
Kukanqi shook his head slightly: "I can't guess. He obviously has the goods on hand, but he doesn't want gold or silver, just food, which makes us have to walk a lot longer."
Mo De said: "We are not afraid of walking too much, but we are afraid that King Wei will not have good intentions. We have brought a lot of gold and silver. If they really have evil intentions, then we will be in trouble."
"In my opinion, they won't show any evil looks." Kukanchi reassured him, "As long as we show enough sincerity and can continue to purchase Wei's food and goods, the King of Wei will not embarrass us. "
"I hope so." Morde let out a long sigh.
Before he finished speaking, a team suddenly appeared in front of him, holding a guard of honor high and marching in line.
Moder and Kukanci asked the team to stop and observe the movement on the other side.
Judging from the attire and etiquette of the team, it was obvious that they were welcoming distinguished guests.
The leading official dismounted from his horse, walked forward, raised his hands and asked, "May I ask if there are envoys from Dawan and Persia in front of you?"
"Exactly," Kukanci replied.
The official smiled and said, "I am Wei Mingyuan, the Prime Minister of the Wei Dynasty. I have come here to greet the two special envoys under the orders of the King of Wei."
When Moder and Kukanchi heard this, they immediately felt confident and hurriedly stepped forward to answer.
After some polite greetings, the Wei army escorted the two envoys into Daliang City.
——————
Ying Zheng saw off the envoys from the two countries, gave Zhuge Teng careful instructions, and then set off back to Xianyang.
In the carriage, Meng Yi accompanied Ying Zheng, and the two chatted about the two special envoys.
"Your Majesty, if you just let them go to Wei State, you are not afraid that something might happen to them. Why don't we explain to those two countries?"
"What are you afraid of?" Ying Zheng said with a smile, "Their team has a large number of people. The robbers will definitely not dare to rob them. Besides, King Wei will not let anything happen to them."
Meng Yi asked doubtfully: "So, King Wei will definitely be able to reach a deal with them this time?"
"That's right." Ying Zheng said, "Based on my understanding of King Wei, he will do anything that is not beneficial to the Qin Dynasty. If the Wei State can win over the business, the Qin Dynasty will not be able to make any money. Since it can't make any money, , then how to develop military power?"
"That's right." Meng Yi said with a smile, "This way, I'm not afraid that he won't take the bait."
As they chatted, they were approaching the east gate of Xianyang City.
I saw a team parked outside the east gate, seemingly waiting for King Qin to return.
The leader was none other than Li Si. He spurred his horses and rushed to Ying Zheng's chariot. He raised his hands and said urgently: "Your Majesty, Wang Ben sent back an urgent message from Fei Ge, saying that Huan Jue was defeated, and that he led troops to rescue but failed." , Huanjue’s army is currently suffering heavy casualties, and Huanjue’s life and death are unknown.”
"What?!" Ying Zheng exclaimed, "Hurry up and show me the letter."
