After the Xiongnu suffered a heavy blow from Li Mu, they did not dare to go south to herd horses for more than 10 years.
The entire northern sky was quiet and peaceful. Li Mu retired after his success, but he did not just sit back and enjoy the success. In 246 BC, he returned to Handan and became an ordinary official. During a mission to visit the Qin State, he signed an alliance with the Qin State as the Prime Minister and ordered the Qin State to The state returned Zhao's protons. A year later, King Zhao Xiaocheng passed away, leaving behind the dim and incompetent King Zhao Daoxiang, who was angry and incorrigible. Really capable ministers such as Zhao She and Lin Xiangru died one after another in the court. At this time, Li Mu became Zhao's important minister in the court.
Soon after, the State of Yan took the opportunity to attack the State of Zhao and was defeated by the Zhao army. In 243 BC, King Zhao Daoxiang sent Li Mu to pursue the victory and attack Yan State. Wu Sui (now Suicheng Town, northwest of Xushui, Hebei Province) and Fangcheng (now south of Gu'an, Hebei Province) of Yan State were quickly captured by Li Mu's army. Li Mu once again showed the world the style of a military general of his generation.
Eight years later, King Zhao Youxiang died, and King Zhao came to the throne as King Youmiao of Zhao. This man was even more immoral and immoral. He favored treacherous ministers and suppressed loyal ministers. Zhao State had basically been sentenced to death by Qin State. The death of the previous king and the establishment of a new king were the great calamity of the country. Naturally, Qin would not give up such a good opportunity and sent general Fan Yuqi to capture Pingyang (southeast of Ci County, Handan, Hebei Province today) and Wucheng of Zhao State. (today's west of Wucheng, Shandong) two cities. General Hu Zou of Zhao was killed in Wu Sui, and all 100,000 troops he led were beheaded by the Qin army.
Fan Yuqi, whose original name was Huanjue, was a native of Nanzhuang Village, Baoxu Township, Li County, Hebei Province today. He was a military general of the Qin State in the late Warring States Period. It was Fan Yuqi who was in command of the Qin State this time.
In order to expand the results of the war, Fan Yuqi led an army to pursue the victory in 233 BC. Starting from Shangdang, he crossed the towering Taihang Mountains and penetrated deep into the rear of Zhao State. The Zhao army was defeated, and its two cities, Chili and Yi'an (southwest of today's Haocheng, Hebei), were quickly captured by the Qin army.
The Qin army then drove straight down, marching directly towards Handan. The situation was extremely critical. If the Qin army besieged Handan again this time, the princes would no longer be able to assemble the original unified army to rescue Zhao.
At this time, Li Mu was guarding Yanmen. After hearing the news, King Zhao hurriedly sent flying cavalry to Yanmen to worship Li Mu as his general. Li Mu was ordered to face the danger and hurriedly led the army, traveling south from Yanmen at starry night, in order to resist and block the Qin army halfway before the Qin army besieged Handan.
At the same time, Handan also dispatched a large army, and soon joined forces with Li Mu's army heading south. The army turned to the west and faced the Qin army near Yi'an. The current situation is obvious. The Qin army has won consecutive battles and has high morale. If the Zhao army and the Qin army are allowed to have a head-on collision in a hurry, the chance of the Zhao army winning will definitely be slim. Therefore, Li Mu adopted the strategy of building high forts and holding on to the exhausted enemy. No matter how the Qin army scolded and called the formation, the Zhao army remained unmoved. The army wanted to fight quickly, and the most important thing was to go all out in one go, then weaken again, and then be exhausted three times. As a general of the Qin army, Fan Yuqi naturally understood This principle.
In the past, when Lian Po was the general of Zhao State, he also kept the walls clear and could not move out. When the Qin army was exhausted and food and grass were low, he could subdue the enemy's troops without fighting and then pursue the victory. Fan Yuqi believed that this time Li Mu also refused to stand up to confront the Qin army, and he must have the same calculation as Lian Po.
However, when the Qin army traveled thousands of miles to conquer Zhao, they would definitely be short of food and grass. In the long run, if the war does not advance, it will eventually collapse without a fight. Therefore, Fan Yuqi devised a strategy and personally led the main force to attack Feixia in an attempt to create an illusion to Zhao Jun and induce Zhao Jun to abandon the city and go out for rescue. As long as the Zhao army leaves the city, the Qin army can annihilate the enemy on the move.
Li Mu had long seen through everything the enemy was doing and was unmoved by Fan Yuqi's plan to lure the enemy to rescue. At this time, differences arose among the Zhao army, especially the general Zhao Cong who hurriedly suggested to Li Mu that he should attack quickly to rescue Feixia. Li Mu could only explain carefully to everyone that if the enemy attacks and I go to rescue, I will be controlled by others, which is a taboo for military strategists.
After convincing the generals, Li Mu formulated a strategy for Zhao Jun to defeat the enemy: In order to attract Zhao Jun to rescue Feixia, the Qin army's main force left the camp, so the strength of the camp must be very weak. Zhao Jun had been avoiding coming out for many days, which made Qin Jun feel that Zhao Jun would not dare to go out of the city to fight. In this way, as long as Zhao Jun goes into battle, it can play the role of taking it by surprise and covering up its unpreparedness.
Sure enough, when the Zhao army suddenly appeared in front of the Qin army camp, the Qin army was shocked. Although there was not much panic, the gap in strength between the enemy and ourselves was too great, so Li Mu quickly swept away the Qin army. The remaining personnel of the camp and all their baggage were also captured by Zhao Jun, which can be said to be a complete victory.
After Li Mu went to battle, Fan Yuqi thought carefully and decided to lead the main force of the Qin army back to rescue the Qin army's camp. But he didn't expect that Li Mu would capture the Qin army's camp so quickly. What is even more incredible is that Li Mu seemed to be able to predict every move of the Qin army in advance. He even prepared an ambush halfway up the road, and when the Qin army arrived, he would block the Qin army from the front. Seeing the Qin army fighting to the death and about to break through the Zhao army's defense in the front, another Zhao army suddenly shot out from between the two wings. Judging from the size, it seemed to be the main force of the Zhao army. The Qin army was once again caught off guard and was quickly defeated by the Zhao army.
In the end, Fan Yuqi could only lead a few personal followers to break through Zhao Jun's heavy siege. But he did not dare to return to Qin, fearing that if he did, the King of Qin would hold Fan Yuqi responsible for his defeat. Today, there is only one country whose strength has not been damaged and whose relationship with the Qin State is relatively tense. This is the country that Fan Yuqi can seek refuge in, and that is the State of Yan. But he didn't know that Qin's pace of unifying the world could not be stopped by a border country or a peerless general.
When Qin Wangzheng heard the news, he was furious and killed all three of Fan Yuqi's clans. At the same time, he also announced to the world that whoever could offer Fan Yuqi's head would be rewarded by the King of Qin with a thousand pieces of gold and the title of Ten Thousand Households. Fan Yuqi did not escape the fate of dying in the end. In order to achieve Jing Ke's world-famous assassination, he did not hesitate to offer his own head and let Jing Ke use it as a meeting ceremony to meet the King of Qin.
Through this great victory, the Zhao army dealt a heavy blow to the Qin army, and Zhao also got a temporary respite. Even the King of Zhao believed that as long as Li Mu was in Zhao, Qin would never be able to destroy Zhao. Therefore, King Zhao gave Li Mu a transcendent status and named him Lord Wu'an.
In the eyes of King Zhao, Li Mu has become Bai Qi of Zhao State. In the world, only Li Mu can compete with the Qin army.
From this battle, Li Mu first had a clear understanding of the entire battle situation and the Qin army's intentions. He first adopted the strategy of holding on until the Qin army was exhausted, and then pursuing the victory. The Qin army wanted to use a strategy to lure the enemy out of the city, so Li Mu followed his plan and sent the Qin army to a encirclement point for reinforcements. The Qin army was defeated. The reputation of Zhao Jun Li Mu also reached its peak during this period.
Fan Yuqi left, but Qin still had a large number of outstanding generals such as Wang Jian and Meng Tian.
The process of Qin Wangzheng's unification of the world will not be affected by the success or failure of a battle.
In 232 BC, Qin Wangzheng sent hundreds of thousands of troops to attack Zhao again. This time the Qin army divided into two groups. One of the armies set out from Youye (now southwest of Linzhang, Hebei Province) and headed north. The strategic intention of the Qin army is obvious. As long as it can cross the Zhang River, it can quickly attack Handan, the capital of Zhao.
In order to ensure the victory of this war, Qin Wangzheng also personally led the main force of the Qin army from Jingxing in Shangdang (now northwest of Jingxing, Hebei) in an attempt to attack Zhao from the north of Handan. As long as the Qin army reaches the north of Handan, it will be able to divide the Zhao State into two, and the head and tail will not be able to see each other. This will make the Zhao State in danger.
Li Mu was deeply aware of this, so when the Qin army attacked Fanwu (now south of Pingshan, Hebei), Li Mu led his army to tenaciously block it. The Qin army's attack on the southern part of Handan was also difficult because of the obstruction of the Zhang River and the Great Wall.
Upon seeing this, Li Mu immediately changed the Zhao army's strategy of comprehensive blockade. The Zhao army in the south was mainly responsible for guarding, while the Zhao army in the north attacked the Qin army at the appropriate time. In this way, superior forces can be concentrated to annihilate the enemy one by one. Therefore, Sima Shang, the general of the Zhao army, followed Li Mu's order to guard the Great Wall in the south of Handan to prevent the Qin army from entering. On the other side, Li Mu personally led the Zhao army to attack the north of Handan. Within a few days, the Zhao army encountered the Qin army in Fanwu. Li Mu personally supervised the army and launched a fierce attack on the Qin army. The Qin army could not advance even an inch, so they panicked. The Zhao army's morale became even stronger, and they quickly defeated the Qin army. Li Mu did not pursue, but quickly sent his troops south to join forces with Sima Shang's army.
The southern army of Qin soon learned of the defeat of the northern army, and even heard that Zhao Jun and Li Mu's army had arrived. Therefore, after a symbolic battle with the Zhao army, they found that although their strength was intact, they were unable to win, so they had no choice but to return. Li Mu once again defeated the arrogant Qin army through his superb command art.
However, although the Zhao army repeatedly won battles with the Qin army, they killed one thousand enemies and suffered eight hundred losses. At this time, the Zhao State was no longer the same as the Zhao State before the Battle of Changping. The Qin State has become stronger. Even after three or four wars and lost troops and generals, it did not lose its vitality.
On the other hand, the Zhao State has lost all its military strength. Even if the Qin army retreats, the Zhao army will be unable to pursue it. Therefore, the battle that was supposed to annihilate the Qin army turned into an outcome that could only defeat the Qin army. Li Mu also deeply understood the crisis of Zhao State. For the current plan, he could only retreat to Handan to protect himself.
However, what King Zhao did not expect was that the Zhao State had a leaky house and it rained all night. Just when the country was in danger, South Korea and Wei State surrendered to the Qin State's camp, and were often dispatched by the Qin State. Come and capture the State of Zhao. King Zhao could only send Li Mu as general again to the south to resist the armies of South Korea and Wei. But manpower is sometimes scarce. How can one Li Mu withstand the enemy's continuous wars? What's more, the enemy has more terrifying means than war.
In 229 BC, Qin Wangzheng once again sent general Wang Jian to lead the main force of the Qin army southward from Jingxing. At the same time, Yang Duanhe led the Qin army in the two rivers. A total of hundreds of thousands of troops besieged Handan, the capital of Zhao. In fact, the reason why Qin Wangzheng chose to attack at this time was precisely because he saw the weakness of Zhao State. At this time, the Zhao State was already declining. At the same time, a major earthquake broke out in Daidi on the northern border of the Zhao State, causing widespread famine in the Zhao State. Li Mu only made achievements in the military, but he did not understand the art of serving the people. Even if he wanted to change the situation of Zhao's declining national power, he was beyond his reach. At this time, Li Mu has become the backbone of Zhao's army. Without Li Mu, Zhao's army would be like a headless fly in war. King Zhao also saw this. As soon as the Qin army invaded, he quickly appointed Li Mu as the general. Sima Shang remained as the deputy general and devoted all the military and financial resources of the country to resist the Qin army.
Li Mu was not in vain. Under his command, the Zhao army quickly defeated the invading Qin army.
