He Heng's division of troops caused great trouble to King Zhao. He had already lost his troops once. In addition, in order to prevent rebellions in other places, too many county soldiers could not be deployed.
As a result, King Zhao, who had only 50,000 troops, including 20,000 elite troops and 30,000 miscellaneous troops, fell into a helpless situation.
He wanted to put down the rebellion as soon as possible. He was afraid that the rebellion would form a chain reaction and bring other counties out of the rebellion. What he wanted was to have a decisive battle with the Xia State. If he couldn't fight, he would have to drive the Xia State army out of the Zhao State. The area where slow food rebels.
However, Xia State's move of dividing its troops into multiple routes left him at a loss as to how to deal with it. The safest option was to occupy the core cities, slowly advance one by one, suppress them, and slowly eradicate the impact of the rebellion.
However, there are some concerns that the longer the situation is delayed, the first is that it will be difficult to eradicate the influence of the uprising, and the second is the fear of a series of rebellions, which will cause a wider impact.
While he was doing research with a group of senior officials, information was delivered to his desk, making him wide-eyed.
"The number of the so-called Tiance Army is less than two thousand?" King Zhao looked at the information in disbelief. It was these two thousand people that made him go to war.
Taking the intelligence and watching it over and over, he couldn't believe that Zhuang Xun's miscellaneous army could stir up such a big storm and cause an earthquake in half of the Zhao country. He began to question the authenticity of the intelligence.
He obviously didn't look for reasons from his own policies. He only wondered whether the intelligence might be wrong. But he also knew a truth, that is, when the emperor thinks someone has a counter-intention, then people who don't have a counter-intention will also have a counter-intention. .
So he just went to investigate and figure out the number of people, and at the same time formed a team to carry out the process at the same time. Although it wasted more than ten days, the conclusions he got were quite different.
Xia Guo's Tiance Army, which is comparable to Zhao's Xuanjia Army, only has two thousand people. The rest are similar to county soldiers. In fact, their combat effectiveness is not strong.
According to the words of the county soldiers who organized the counter-rebellion before, it was because the county soldiers in each place had their own generals. There seemed to be conflicts. Before the war started, they wanted to retreat and escape. In addition, two thousand Tiance troops rushed into the formation, so they were defeated. so fast.
In fact, the people sent by the Xia Kingdom were not strong, the Tiance Army was very small, and the total number of troops was only 40,000 to 50,000, which was not much. At least, it was not worthy of deploying so many troops and horses, and it was not worthy of his personal command.
Fortunately, the frontline troops were not mobilized, otherwise they would have fallen into Xia's trick. If Zhao was really transferred away from Jing's army, only Zhao would lose.
After finding out the distribution of Xia's troops, especially knowing that the so-called Xia army only had two thousand Tiance troops, King Zhao finally had some basis for his pending decision.
Divide the troops, just like the Xia Kingdom, divide the troops into three groups. Divide the elite into three parts. He alone leads 8,000 troops, including 2,000 palace guards, 6,000 family troops, and 10,000 county soldiers. After all, it is more convenient for him to control the army of the family. , other people commanding the family's army will be in disobedience.
The other two routes each have 5,000 elites and 10,000 county soldiers, ensuring that facing the Xia Kingdom's Tiance Army alone, they will have a crushing advantage and recover the rebel and Xia Kingdom-occupied lands from north to south. Head east, fight all the way to the pass, and tighten his pockets. He wants to annihilate all the troops invading Zhao.
After hearing the true number of people sent by the Xia Kingdom, the families all fell into a relaxed and happy atmosphere, singing praises and praising King Zhao for having the courage to conduct a personal expedition. The eastern part of the Zhao Kingdom must be in despair now.
Although King Zhao was modest, he thought so in his heart. After finding out clearly the true power of Xia State, he no longer felt worried and relaxed in a rare way.
After all, he couldn't figure out how his nearly 20,000 elite troops could lose to the Xia Kingdom's 2,000 troops. He never thought about losing, and Xia Kingdom didn't think about winning either. It was just a forced delay. The consensus between the two parties was clear.
The Zhao State counterattacked very quickly. The large siege equipment and huge stones smashed the city wall. The defenders were no match for the Zhao State. At the beginning, they resisted desperately. A bunch of grasshoppers behind saw the siege equipment. He abandoned the city and fled, and the defeat was far faster than He Heng and others expected.
Although they won all the way, the Zhao army suffered a lot of attrition, and some had to replenish the city defense nearby, because some of the city defense troops were killed by the rebellious people. Some of the food was taken away by the insurgents, and some was given to the people, resulting in the re-establishment of county troops. We can only go to people's homes to rob them.
Over and over again, many people became bandits. Few resisted, but the accumulated small added up. The battle report presented made King Zhao angry. Wasn't this the land of Zhao that was fortified to clear the country for him?
However, the elite imperial army was unscathed. After all, it was not their turn to collect food. The county soldiers who cooperated lost thousands of people. Some of them were left behind to occupy the city. After all, the rebels could not use them.
We also need to thank some of the county soldiers who guarded the city. The Xia Kingdom and the rebel army did not have any siege equipment. They could not break through the solid city wall and could only pray for an internal uprising.
They held on and waited until the soldiers of the Zhao State's court were reached. Otherwise, the losses would be even greater for Zhao State. This is Zhao State's land. If it is destroyed, Zhao State will have to swallow the bitter fruit.
However, seeing that the territory was slowly recovering, and the successive victories still made King Zhao very happy, it was just around the corner to wipe out the Xia Kingdom's forces.
King Zhao, who was heading west, was about to block the Xia army's escape route, and then he would be able to catch the turtle in the jar.
His wishful thinking was perfect, and He Heng also saw his purpose through King Zhao's marching route, blocking the passes connecting Xia and Zhao, and trapping these people in Zhao.
So he was hesitating whether he should stay or just withdraw. King Zhao came too fast, and many arrangements were useless. King Zhao's army came all the way to regain the lost ground.
He actually had the idea of fighting Zhao Guo. After all, Zhao Guo's troops were already so scattered. After training, he had many new troops in his hands.
He was unwilling to give up like this, and the news he received was that these elites were half contributed by King Zhao and half from the family, and were not actually mobilized to Zhao's border guards.
Therefore, the pressure on He Heng was very great. Being forced to retreat in this way meant that Zhao Guo had achieved a major victory. They did not play a role in causing Zhao Guo's muscles and bones, but only caused some superficial injuries to Zhao Guo.
King Zhao came all the way to fight, and suffered a lot of casualties, still 15,000 people. He Heng collected the bandit troops along the way, and the rebel army now numbered 50,000 to 60,000 people.
Taking these troops home, these soldiers will also be resentful. After all, many of them are from Zhao. They were willing to surrender because Xia sent troops in the name of conquering tyranny.
In this way, they retreated without any major conflicts. Now how do the people of Zhao State view Xia State? Will Xia State still have such universal prestige in Zhao State?
Zhao State fought too fast, which also caused many troops to have no time to retreat. Now the northern and southern armies have not yet evacuated, and are being held tightly by Zhao State's two separate armies.
"Pretending to launch two major battles, the two separate armies of Zhao State have been almost exhausted. Let the trained troops try to fight decisively. At the same time, let the news out and use the Tiance Army's horses as cover. Show that we went to the battlefields on both sides, let King Zhao continue to divide the troops, and we will fight the rest head-on."
The largest pass between Zhao and Xia is Taiyun Pass in the remnants of the Taihang Mountains. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. However, the Chi Road connecting the north and the south is in Taiyun City, which is a smooth road. Zhao is a plain country and there are no dangers.
If you can defend Taiyun City, you can continue to fight with Zhao Guo and continue to coordinate the armies in the north and south to give them a retreat. If you cannot defend Taiyung Pass and retreat, it will be equivalent to giving up attacking Zhao Guo.
He made up his mind to fight. It would be too shameful to flee without fighting. Moreover, he was also in compliance with the mood of the soldiers. These soldiers wanted to fight Zhao's army and drive away Zhao's army. This land It belongs to King Xia, and they can live a good life in peace and contentment.
On one side, the soldiers strongly demanded fighting, and on the other side, there was a pass with no retreat. He Heng thought over and over again and decided to fight. He left 10,000 or 20,000 people to guard Taiyung Pass, and he decided to use the others to fight a big battle.
The Chi Road left by the Ji Dynasty made the army's march speed more than double. Zhao was the country that best maintained the Chi Road. He Heng originally wanted to delay it for a few more months, but it seemed that he couldn't.
In front of the large-scale siege equipment coming from the Zhao State, the city wall is meaningless. The most important thing is to use the mountains and terrain to defend, and try to consume the strength of the Zhao army as much as possible.
Mountains and terrains were ineffective, and the only option was plain confrontation. He Heng already knew that defeat would be inevitable, so he handed more than 4,000 Tiance troops to Luo Yuecheng and secretly told him that if he couldn't defeat them, he would withdraw and save them for Xia Guo. strength.
It's not two thousand, it's four thousand. After fighting for more than half a year, the Tiance Army recently added two thousand. Some of the soldiers were trained in advance, but they were short of weapons and equipment. Zhao Guo misjudged, but it was still eight thousand. Against four thousand, the old army has a huge advantage over the new army.
With just such a favorable condition, He Heng thought that his 50,000 people could always wear down Zhao's 4,000 elite cavalry, so there would be hope of winning. Although the hope was slim, a glimmer of hope was still a lot.
The decisive battle in the plains was to facilitate the escape of these cavalry. He Heng had already decided to die. He handed over his suicide note to Luo Yuecheng and asked Zhuang Xun to take care of his wife and children. He was a man of love. In this decisive battle, he shouldered the responsibility that he had decided to separate from in the first place. The 50,000 soldiers of the Northern and Southern armies.
It was his prediction that caused the two armies not to have enough time to retreat. He did not expect the existence of large siege equipment, which caused the city to be lost far faster than he imagined. In short, he underestimated the national power of Zhao.
He made such a big mistake and failed to retreat in time. He had no shame in hiding in the rear. The emperor of the other side had personally marched on the expedition, so he had to take command from the center. This was his explanation to the Xia Kingdom and the soldiers who stayed in the Zhao Kingdom.
He Heng's method of confusing Zhao was ineffective, because King Zhao was confident, and he was not afraid of Xia's two thousand troops to support the north. How would the five thousand elites of the two armies be afraid of your mere two thousand?
Even if the two sides have the same one-to-one combat effectiveness, each team has an advantage in terms of numbers. By eating the troops in front of them, they can slowly take care of the Xia army present in the Zhao Kingdom. What is he worried about? Worried about the peasants' rebellion of native chickens and dogs?
Don't worry, marching all the way is a triumph, and they are about to hit the border. What is he worried about? However, he did not continue to divide the troops, which also caused a misjudgment.
I feel that the people of Xia State are preparing to fight stubbornly, because the troops led by King Zhao are about to cut off the pass between Zhao State and Xia State. Not only do these troops not leave, they are still staying in Zhao State in order to continue to consume Zhao State's power. .
It's not like he didn't find out that He Heng had gathered 50,000 to 60,000 people. The 50,000 to 60,000 people were just peasant soldiers, so what was he afraid of?
By this time, King Zhao was not brainwashed by the ministers praising the so-called civil and military skills. He prepared a lot for this decisive battle, including probing sentries and speeches between the three armies.
Seeing this battle as extremely important, he followed the generals' suggestions on how to set up camp and how to change posts. He did not interfere with the command. He just let the generals win it steadily. The entire Zhao Kingdom was their backing.
The only thing that was not detected was the Tiance army that Xia had just replenished from the border, but it didn't matter, he still had the advantage in terms of numbers and skill, and King Zhao did not take risks for a big victory.
His calculations went to heaven, but he missed one tiny point, the human heart.
Until the knife was held to his neck, he couldn't understand how he could lose. Wasn't the opponent already defeated?
He put the troops of the noble families in the front and two wings, put the palace guards in the rear, and led the ministers to supervise the battle in person. He had clearly defeated most of the Xia army, how could he lose, how could he lose.
From the perspective of the Xia Kingdom, winning this battle was strange. Huang Xi led the army and horses out to guerrilla. After all, Huang Xi was more agile, so the Tiance Army, which was originally controlled by two people, was managed by Luo Yuecheng alone.
At the beginning of the war, the Zhao State did not use the Xuanjia Army. The county soldiers were in a stalemate with the Xia State's county soldiers, and there was a tendency to retreat. They paid gold to withdraw their troops. The Zhao State was slightly better equipped, but after all, there was a gap in numbers.
Detect the opponent's combat effectiveness and the use of arrows, adjust the military formation in time, and then regroup and use elite troops in the next step.
The two sides clashed, with greater horsepower and greater strength. The numerous Xia troops were torn open, and the left and right wings pounced on them. The massacre was inevitable.
Unable to be replaced, these black armor soldiers are like low-end versions of innate masters. Ordinary weapons cannot hurt them at all. This has a great impact on the soldiers.
No matter how brave they are, they can't defeat these monsters who are not afraid of swords and guns. Just like what Zhuang Xun saw from Xuannv before, this was a one-sided massacre.
He Heng put on his armor and mounted his horse. With a death wish, he planned to replace some people by relying on his innate skills. At the same time, he would create a chance for Luo Yuecheng to escape and retain the most elite Tiance army of Xia Kingdom.
"Let's go, let's go. His Majesty told me at that time that he named the Tiance Army because the same army in his hometown was victorious in every battle. Damn it, I'm leaving now. This is still a shitty Tiance Army. Send me an order to kill Entering enemy territory."
Luo Yuecheng was stupid, but when he heard that He Heng wanted to give him the rear and ask him to retreat, he understood what it meant. His favorite and most admired character was Guan Erye from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, as Zhuang Xun said, and now he was asked to leave He Heng behind. Escape, how could he escape.
Zhuang Xun is the most important savior, and He Heng, who supports and protects him all the way, is the second most important. To this extent, no one cares about He Heng's instructions and an order to rush into the enemy's formation.
And then they won, and won sloppily.
The Tiance Army has various shortcomings, such as insufficient training, insufficient cooperation, and inability to adapt to this kind of armor, among other problems, but they are not afraid of death.
The orders the Xuanjia Army of the aristocratic family received, at least privately from their superiors who directly belonged to the aristocratic family, were all to protect themselves and avoid the enemy's advantage.
They are the troops of the noble family, not the Zhao State. If they die, the Zhao State will not compensate them.
A miracle occurred. Four thousand people who were not afraid of death tore open the front line of more than 10,000 people and captured King Zhao.
(End of chapter)
