Zhao Yong stood tall at the foot of the mountain holding his sword, watching indifferently the fire rising into the sky in front of him. Hysterical shouts of killing, mixed with extremely shrill howls, birds and beasts in the distant mountains fled in all directions, and the road was wide open!
On July 19, after more than a month of confrontation between the two armies, Jingxing City was completely declared defeated.
Three families were divided into Jin and Jin. For the first time in a century, China fully occupied Jingxing, Taihang!
This channel of life connecting the east and west has undoubtedly brought Zhao's comprehensive national strength to a new level.
...The result that Zhao Guo wants from this battle has been achieved.
As for whether the victory can be continued to expand, it depends on whether the Zhongshan court can compromise.
The situation of the Zhongshan Kingdom is over. The Zhongshan Army has lost the Jingxing Passage, and the south bank of the Hutuo River will no longer be able to defend.
Looking back at the Zhao State, the Zhao army's troops and supplies from several counties in Hedong and Northern Xinjiang began to pass through Jingxing to join the war.
Zhao's war gears are turning crazily.
The killings ahead are still continuing, but Zhao Yong's heart has returned to calm.
…
Three days later, Donghuan City, which guarded the south bank, was declared defeated.
Fanwu, the only isolated city in the Zhongshan Kingdom on the south bank of the Hutuo River, was in danger.
It was the third day when the Zhao army besieged Panwu City.
The reinforcements that the Zhongshan Army in the city had been waiting for never arrived. What was waiting was only the retreat slips from the King of Zhongshan.
'Boom! '
Gong Shujie punched the tables in front of him, and the beard at the corner of his mouth stood up with anger. He glared at the person in front of him and said fiercely: "The king wants us to withdraw our troops?"
Zhang Dai swallowed his saliva and, forced by the momentum, took two steps back and said forcefully: "This is written by the king himself. Could it be that the general wants to disobey the king's order?"
Although Zhang Dai spoke forcefully, his tone was obviously a little fearful.
Gongshujie gritted his teeth and said: "As a soldier in the house, you did not fight hard to kill the enemy, but you betrayed the country and returned to the enemy. Now you still flatter him, you should be punished!"
"I...I have been ordered by the king, so why should I say flattery? What does it have to do with me if the house and city are ruined?" Zhang Dai said harshly.
"The soldiers are fighting bloody battles on the front line, and you traitors are slandering you in front of the king. Today I will kill you, the traitor, to eliminate harm for the Zhongshan Kingdom!" Gong Shujie said, suddenly pulling out the long sword from his waist, and taking three steps together In two steps, he slashed towards Zhang Dai in front of him.
Zhang Dai was so frightened that he even forgot to resist and escape.
"General! No!" General Bi shouted quickly.
Everyone in the tent was suddenly shocked and rushed to stop him. But Gong Shujie was the general in charge of the army after all, and when he suddenly started killing people, it was too late for others to react.
It was only a matter of seconds before everyone came closer.
Then I heard Zhang Dai scream. 'Plop' blood spread on the ground, and there was a twitching corpse on the ground in the tent.
"General!" It's still a step too late! General Bi immediately screamed in pain.
He didn't feel sorry for Zhang Dai's death, but he really felt that Gongshu Jie shouldn't have killed this guy with his own hands at this time.
This person is a relative of Zhang Deng, the senior official. Killing him now will definitely give Sima Xi's party an excuse to criticize him.
Gong Shujie looked at the corpse in front of him, spat on the ground, wiped the blood from the sword in his hand on the corpse's clothes, and then sheathed the sword.
Zhang Dai will probably never think until his death that he did not die at the hands of Zhao Jun. But just because he sent a message to the King of Zhongshan, he was killed by his own people.
Gong Shujie looked around the tent and said: "This is a traitor to Mei Zhao and should be killed! I will definitely tie myself up in front of the king when I return to Lingshou. This matter has nothing to do with you."
"General! We really shouldn't be here!" General Pi said.
Uncle Gongji said: "The thief is dead. It's useless to talk. I dare not disobey the king's order. You will cross the river immediately and burn all the baggage that cannot be taken away from the city!"
"Here!" Everyone had to bow.
…
The Zhao Army's camp outside Fanwu City received the news that the Zhongshan Army had requested to surrender. Before dawn, horns sounded in the camp, and Zhao's vanguard army began to move into the city.
In Fanwu North City, Zhao Yong stood on the river bank beside the city, looking at the scenery on the north bank. The morning sun was hanging in the sky, the air was moist, and the wind and rain had stopped at some point. Today was a rare sunny day.
Although Fanwu City was not attacked by the Zhao army, the Zhongshan army burned a large number of objects in the city before retreating. Today, the soldiers are still cleaning the devastated city.
Entering the city early this morning, Zhao Yong found Zhang Dai's body in the main army camp in Zhongshan. The blood on his neck had dried. The body had obviously been lying here without anyone paying attention to it all day. He couldn't help but stared at the corpse for a moment.
He didn't understand why this guy died here, but he thought it had something to do with the Zhongshan people.
A guy who can be considered a stranger, a guy who is no longer useful.
Perhaps because he had seen too many corpses, Zhao Yong suddenly became a little silent about life and death.
After being silent for a while, he shook his head and said to the people around him: "Find a place to bury it."
The guard bowed and said: "Here!"
Half of the Zhongshan Kingdom has now been completely integrated into the territory of the Zhao Kingdom.
It can be said that the Zhao State's goal in this battle has been achieved.
King Jicuo of Zhongshan voluntarily gave up his title and changed his title to king. At the same time, he nominally ceded all the land on the south bank of Hutuo River in order for Zhao to withdraw and negotiate for peace.
After Zhao Yong discussed it with his ministers, he agreed, because this was Zhao's original request.
Although the Zhao State has now regained the initiative, there is no practical significance in continuing the fight at this time.
The fundamental reason is that Zhao Guo currently does not have any decent navy.
In particular, Zhao State's foundation along the Hutuo River was even more blank. If the war continues, a new dock must be built along the Hutuo River, and the time required for the dock is not a small amount.
For a Rong Di like Zhongshan who came from a fishing and hunting background, if Zhao Jun did not make complete preparations and rashly crossed the river, he would surely suffer a big loss.
What Zhao needs to do most now is to digest this newly acquired vast land as soon as possible, and issue a 'well-intentioned' warning to the Zhongshan court in order to reduce its rebellious mentality.
It now seems that the second war against Zhongshan Kingdom will have to wait until the beginning of the next spring at the earliest.
Although this battle lasted only a few months, Zhao Guo's losses were not small. There were a lot of casualties. The most important thing was the loss of baggage and food. This battle was mostly in mountainous areas, and Zhao Guo had several routes. The army, with more than 200,000 troops dispatched one after another, consumes food and fodder in a matter of days.
In addition, ten days ago, the news that the Qi army had conquered Jidu had spread throughout China.
The Qi army, which had been fighting against the Yan state for more than a year, revealed its true colors the moment it captured Jidu. The Qi army plundered the Yan state's clan sacrificial vessels, and the soldiers burned, killed and looted. Jidu instantly became a hell on earth.
King Yan Ji Kuai set himself on fire and died. The whereabouts of Queen Yan and Prince Yan are unknown.
...The "destruction" of the Yan State, plus the freeing up of the main force of the Qi army. It was also another reason why Zhao State withdrew its troops.
No one can say whether Qi State, which has escaped from the quagmire of Yan State, will set its next goal on the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains or choose to intervene in the struggle between Zhao State and Zhongshan.
Compared with the Qin State, which was crippled, Qi State has been able to sit firmly on Diaoyutai in recent years.
Today's Qi State can be regarded as an out-and-out giant. If it really confronts the main force of the Qi army, Zhao Yong is really not sure whether it will win or lose.
Since Zhao Yong succeeded to the throne, Zhao Guo has never fought against the Qi army on a frontal battlefield.
If not, he would certainly not have accepted the Zhongshan Kingdom's surrender so easily.
In the final analysis, they are still afraid of failure and the defeat of Zhao.
He had nothing before, but he wanted a lot and wanted the people he cared about to live a good life. Now we have everything, but losing it is still easy... Especially in this era of endless chaos, it often only takes one failure to determine the fate of a country.
…
Just when Zhao Yong was thinking wildly, a guard's report suddenly came from outside the house: "Your Majesty, General Lechi wants to see you."
Orchestra?
Zhao Yong came to his senses instantly and said to the outside of the house: "Xuan."
In the battle of conquering Zhongshan, Lechi can be said to have made the greatest contribution.
Zhao Yongxun thought, if there was no Lechi who came to surrender halfway, and Zhao Jun continued to attack Jingxing City, he might not be able to win it if he was given another month.
Because Jingxing City and Manjia City are not the same thing at all. He knew very well that attacking a city depended entirely on luck, especially attacking a dangerous pass that was heavily defended. It was not easy. If you were not lucky, you would not be able to conquer it even if you were not lucky for a few years. Just like last year, the state of Chu led an army of hundreds of thousands to attack Wuguan, which was defended by more than 20,000 people of the state of Qin. It took half a year and still could not be captured. There was a reason why he was deceived by Zhang Yi in the end.
Zhao Yongzheng was thinking about what kind of title he should give the orchestra, so he came to the door first.
Could it be that he was asking for credit for himself?
After drinking tea, the big man entered the room, bowed his head and said, "Meet the king."
At this time, the armor in the orchestra pit was still stained with traces of blood, which showed that he came in a hurry.
Zhao Yong stepped forward and personally helped him up: "The general has done a great job in this battle. I am very pleased."
"It all depends on the king's trust. I dare not take credit." Lechi said.
"Hahahahaha, General, please sit down." Zhao Yong led him to sit down.
Then he said calmly: "Why are you here in a hurry?"
Lechi bowed and said: "I heard that the king agreed to the Zhongshan Kingdom's request to surrender and wants to withdraw his troops and return to the country?"
Zhao Yong did not hide anything and said truthfully: "You think it's inappropriate?"
"I don't dare." Lechi quickly bowed: "Our Zhao Kingdom has now occupied Jingxing and has determined the victory of this battle. It is really not suitable to fight again. Your Majesty can consider the post-war issues at this time and surrender."
Zhao Yong nodded. According to his opinion, winning the war is good, but if it can be avoided, that would be the best thing. But when Lechi came over, he probably wouldn't just praise Zhao Yong for his cleverness. This guy didn't look like a flatterer either.
Just listen to Yuechi continue to say: "Your Majesty thinks that the Zhongshan Kingdom will be completely destroyed, what should we do next?"
Zhao Yong asked in confusion: "What do you mean?" When the minister suddenly asked him this question, he was at a loss for a moment.
Lechi said: "I boldly say that the Zhongshan Kingdom is now in a state of collapse. If we don't take it now, it will be difficult to take it again.
I heard that the Zhao army's cavalry was invincible. Dai Di's cavalry did not move during this battle, perhaps because of the danger of the river. This battle will capture all the land in Henan. Why doesn't the king take advantage of the victory to pursue it, enter from the north, penetrate directly into the royal city of Zhongshan, and win the battle? "
After Zhao Yong pondered for a moment, he said: "In the past, I wanted to go out of Zhongshan from both the south and the north. However, the Hengshan natural moat is more difficult to navigate than Taihang, and if our cavalry army goes south from Feihu, it will not be able to reach the hinterland of the plain directly. , and it is difficult to resupply midway, so it may be difficult to succeed in the first battle."
Lechi said with a confident expression: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I would like to ask you to go north and be the pioneer for the King."
Zhao Yong was stunned for a moment, then realized that there must be a passage in this wild Hengshan Mountain that Zhao people didn't know about.
Sure enough, Yuechi continued: "There are two routes for our Zhao army to go south from Dai. One way is from Dai Wangcheng to Dai County and southward along the Tang River. There is a lush land in the middle that can be used to supply the Lingqiu Basin for the army. Secondly, you can go south from Weiwen via Feihukou, pass through the Laiyuan Basin of Laishui River and exit Hengshan Mountain."
Zhao Yong nodded. He knew all of these two roads. This was also the route Zhao Guo had taken over the years. But the difficulty is that these two basins are now in the hands of Zhongshan State, and if Zhao State wants to capture these two basins, it lacks a springboard. This is why he had to give up attacking from the north at that time.
Could it be that this orchestra pit doesn’t know?
Yuechi seemed to have noticed Zhao Yong's doubts. He stood up, bowed and bowed. He walked to the Kanyu map in the room and pointed out: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. The smooth path I mentioned is not these two roads, but this one."
Zhao Yong followed what the other party pointed at and saw that it was a hilltop between Feihukou and the Source Basin.
This map is a remnant of the Zhongshan Army's retreat. It is a bit crude. Not to mention the scale, even the place names are not clearly marked.
Lechi continued: "I would like to call this place Sky Grassland, Hebei Zhangjiakou Laohu Mountain Scenic Area. This is a lush land located on a flat-topped mountain, with a radius of up to a hundred miles."
Zhao Yong was suddenly shocked, hundreds of miles away. There are still hundreds of miles of pasture on the high mountains. Isn't it the same as the Guanshan grassland of Qin State?
"How to get here?" Zhao Yong asked immediately.
"There is only one road leading to this place. It goes south for ten miles through Feihukou, and then winds up the mountain to the west." Lechi said truthfully.
Ten miles...close! And it is right in the center of Feihukou, Laiyuan Basin and Lingqiu Basin.
Lechi said: "Your Majesty, if our Zhao State can control this place, it will not only provide the pastures needed for the war horses, but also control the strategic location of the Flying Fox Passage."
Zhao Yong swallowed his saliva. If he captured this place, it could be used as a transfer springboard to take Laiyuan to the south and Lingqiu to the west. Then, with the powerful mobility of Zhao's cavalry, they went south from the Sky Grassland, passed through Feihu Valley, crossed Laiyuan, and entered the plains. What kind of pressure would it put on the Zhongshan Congress, which was dominated by infantry!
Perhaps after a period of time, the Zhongshan Kingdom might be able to figure out a way to deal with the cavalry, but will the Zhao Kingdom give them that chance?
"How many men and horses do you need to capture this place?" Zhao Yong asked.
Yuechi said forcefully: "I only need five thousand elite soldiers!"
"Okay! I regard you as the Wen Guowei, control all the troops and horses in Feihu Pass, and rush to Daijun immediately." Zhao Yong said immediately.
Lechi was overjoyed, bowed and said, "Here."
