This is the protagonist of Chu's Northern Expedition. There are actually three protagonists.
Chu, Liang, and Wei, the three countries ranked first, second, and third in the world, are the protagonists of this war.
But in fact, after the Chu Army's Northern Expedition, the world's attention was not fairly divided among the three protagonists, but was all directed towards Chu Liang.
After all, this is Zhongzhou, in the center of the world.
Chu State was originally the second largest country, and Liang State was the largest country. The competition between the eldest and the second eldest for supremacy naturally attracted attention.
As for the battle between the second and third children, it is not surprising in comparison.
Therefore, the other protagonist, Wei Guo, was like a little transparent, being ignored by everyone.
It was as if the Wei State had been isolated by the entire world for an instant, looking a bit desolate.
Well, he was indeed miserable.
If the Liang State was defeated in an instant due to the Northern Expedition of the Chu State, it lost half of its territory and was almost on the verge of national subjugation.
Then Wei State is almost destroyed.
Chu's Northern Expedition was too sudden.
No one expected that the Chu State would suddenly take action, and the strength shown after taking action was simply terrifying.
Wei Guo was one of them that I didn't expect.
In recent years, the relationship between Chu and Wei has actually been very good, even better than that of Zheng Guo.
After all, the State of Zheng is far away from the other country. If the State of Chu wants to communicate with the other party, it needs to cross the rough and dangerous sea. There are too many variables in this.
But Wei State is different.
The Wei State is located in the northern border, and its territory borders the Chu State. Whether it is between Xiangyang and Nanyang, or between Hanzhong and Guannei, there are too many channels for communication.
In recent years, the Wei State had to purchase large amounts of grain from Chu State due to successive wars that had affected domestic food production, in order to maintain the needs of the domestic people.
This grain trade alone is worth tens of millions of taels of silver every year.
As for the transactions of various other commodities and goods, they are even more numerous.
The above are just economic exchanges.
In terms of military affairs, as early as 20 years ago, when the Wei State destroyed the Zhou Dynasty, the Chu State had been in contact with the other party.
Although the Wei State contributed greatly to the fall of the Zhou State, the contribution of the Chu State cannot be ignored.
The first military exchange between the two countries started very early.
In recent years, due to the need to resist the barbarian aliens in the west, Chu and Wei have never stopped small-scale military cooperation.
The two armies often united to attack the barbarians.
It is precisely because of these successful examples in the past that the Wei State has extended invitations to the Chu State in successive years, hoping that the two sides can conduct a major military alliance.
Let's do a thunder sweep to completely eliminate the hidden dangers in the west.
As for official diplomatic contacts, there are more.
The annual dispatch of diplomatic envoys, the exchange of letters between Lu Yuan and Wei Emperor, the exchange of gifts, and the mutual friendship between the top officials of the two countries are too numerous to mention.
So no matter how you look at it, the two countries of Chu and Wei, which are closely connected in the three major aspects of economy, military, and politics, and have friendly exchanges, do not look like they are going to fight each other.
This is unreasonable and completely unforeseen.
What are the benefits of Chu attacking Wei?
Just the two counties of Nanyang and Henan, the two places in Zhongzhou?
Yes, these two counties are located in Zhongzhou, and the land is fertile. It is a good territory and can be the foundation of a hegemony.
But compared to these two small counties, isn't the territory of Liang Guo's dozen counties more tempting?
If you attack the Wei State, you will encounter desperate resistance from the third most powerful country in the world. Whether you can defeat the Wei State in the end is unknown.
But if you attack the Liang State, not only the Wei State will follow suit, but the Zhao State, Xu State, Tang State, and even the Zheng State in the north will not be able to help but follow suit.
Don't doubt it, with Chu's appeal and the jealousy and greed of the surrounding countries towards Liang's dominance of a state, this is entirely possible.
And as long as it is done, it will be a six-nation attack on Liang with the Chu State as the leader, uniting Wei, Zhao, Xu, Tang, Zheng and other countries to target the Liang State.
A whole six overlords come to attack a Liang country. Just thinking about it makes people's blood boil.
Faced with the siege of six hegemonic powers, there is no doubt whether Liang Guo can hold on, and defeat is inevitable.
When the time comes, all the countries will unite and carve up the Liang Kingdom, and each of them can take three or five counties. Isn't this better than fighting the two counties of Zhongzhou with the Wei Kingdom?
In fact.
On the side of Wei State, there has always been this kind of voice on the playground, asking Chu State to stand up and lead other countries to pain Ou Liang State.
This voice became louder as the Hezong Alliance led by Wei Guo failed and returned with a disastrous defeat.
In the past, the Wei State thought of being the leader of the alliance, gradually gaining benefits and prestige by attacking the Liang State, and slowly overpowering the Chu State and becoming the second largest country in the world.
Therefore, at that time, Wei State was full of confidence and enthusiasm. It sent envoys every year to serve as lobbyists in various countries, inviting them to join the alliance and attack Liang State.
At that time, Wei State was extremely prosperous.
A series of alliances were born under their promotion, and they have indeed achieved results over the years.
For example, the State of Zhao captured Dongjun, and the State of Xu captured Le'an County. These were all results achieved under the alliance of Wei.
It's just that this Warring States period belongs to allies. As the leader of the alliance, Wei Guo did not get any benefits. It was just a sacrifice, a loss and a profit.
This kind of thing that was of little benefit naturally aroused dissatisfaction among many people in Wei State, who believed that the eastward expedition to Liang State was of no benefit at all.
It's just a pure waste of national power and sending its own soldiers to die.
However, many people believe that this is a critical moment for the prosperity of Wei's hegemony. After several alliances, various countries have gradually recognized Wei's status as the hegemon of Zhongzhou.
Especially the two countries of Zhao and Xu, who had benefited from it, had become the younger brother of Wei. They were led by Wei everywhere in the world, as if they only listened to the eldest brother.
The two younger brothers united by the Wei State and the Three Kingdoms formed an alliance. In terms of strength and size, they have become the number one camp in Kyushu.
Even a country as powerful as Liang was at a disadvantage facing the Three Kingdoms Alliance.
Under this situation, as long as Wei can continue to maintain its power, it can attract more countries to join this alliance and further expand its hegemony.
Then when more countries join the alliance and the alliance's foundation reaches a certain level, they will of course be able to defeat the Liang Kingdom and seize Zhongzhou with their strong strength.
At that time, as the leader of the alliance, Wei Guo, as a leader, should be able to seize the biggest fruits after this victory.
So enduring hardship now is for greater gains in the future.
This is a century-old plan and we must not give up.
In this way, in the Wei court, one faction advocated withdrawing troops, while the other advocated persistence, and they continued to oppose each other.
The current Emperor Wei saw this precisely, so when he came to power, he couldn't wait to launch a three-nation war to attack Liang.
He wanted to defeat Liang Guo and seize a territory.
This is to appease the people in the country who are gradually divided.
As long as the war is victorious, this will not only maintain the war but also benefit Wei. It can be said that the interests of both parties are taken care of and the cake is enlarged, which is enough to appease people's hearts.
But a disastrous defeat put all this in vain.
It also made Wei Guo realize his own weakness and shortcomings, and gradually woke up from the dream of being the world's hegemon.
At the same time when he was awake, the Wei State saw that the Chu State was silent and just cut off the food supply with one move, causing Liang State, which was at the height of its power after defeating the Three Kingdoms, to cause chaos in the country and almost collapse.
A perfect operation instantly made Wei Guo clearly realize the gold content of Chu State, the second hegemon in the world.
Let’s not talk about what other places in Chu are like.
This financial resource alone is enough to be proud of the world.
What was the war about?
What you get is money and food.
Chu State had money and food. At the same time, the country had been peaceful for thirty years, and its population was unknown.
If you have money, food, and people, wouldn't that mean countless soldiers and horses?
As long as the Chu State takes action, it is difficult to say whether it can defeat the Liang State, but it should be no problem to be on par with the Liang State, or to be on par with the Liang State in a short period of time.
As long as the Chu State can hold back the main force of the Liang State, how can it be possible for the weak brigades behind the Liang State to be the opponents of the Three Kingdoms if there are countries like Wei, Zhao, and Xu stealing from behind?
By then, the main force of the Liang Kingdom will be far away at the front, and Wei, Zhao, and Xu will steal their homes from the rear. This little Liang Kingdom will still be destroyed!
As long as the Liang State can be destroyed, even the Chu State, as the leader of the alliance, will take the lion's share.
But the Wei State followed suit and sent troops. Coupled with its own status, how could it get two or three counties from the Liang State?
Although this seems a little small, it has more than doubled Wei's territory in Zhongzhou.
Compared with the previous ten years of hard work, which has not yielded much results, this is already a great success.
Therefore, the proposal to draw Chu into the alliance and recommend Chu as the alliance leader has become the mainstream consensus in the country after Wei Changyuan's disastrous defeat five years ago.
In the eyes of many Wei people, this invitation to Chu to conduct a large-scale military joint operation was a preview of future alliance cooperation between Chu and Wei.
Therefore, Wei State attaches great importance to this action.
So after the two countries left the border, they saw that Chu was in the limelight at Yongxi River, but they suffered setbacks on the grasslands and made slow progress.
Wanting to show its value and increase the bargaining chip for inviting Chu in the future, Wei began to rise up.
First, in March, General Meng Chenglin of the Wei State abandoned his rear troops, led the main force deep into the grasslands, and raided Heishui City in the Huotuluo Kingdom.
This is undoubtedly a dangerous move for the army. If you are not careful, hundreds of thousands of troops will be trapped in the grassland and die without a burial place.
But at the same time, this is also a clever way to break the situation.
As long as it can succeed, it will not only solve the current dilemma, but also maybe destroy the Huo Toluo Kingdom in one battle and achieve the greatest results of the Western Expedition.
In fact, he won the bet, or half won the bet.
The 500,000 Wei army led by Meng Chenglin indeed successfully broke through the blockade of the Huo Toluo Kingdom and reached the gates of its capital, Heishui City.
However, although the Wei army successfully reached the opponent's capital, their attack on Blackwater City was not very smooth.
the reason is simple.
Because near Blackwater City, the Huo Toluo Kingdom also gathered a main force of 300,000 people and was preparing to launch another round of counterattack and harassment against the Wei Kingdom.
One on both sides wants to attack, the other wants to counterattack, and at the same time they are both gathering their main forces.
At this time, the next encounter in Blackwater City is destined to make a fool of oneself.
To be fair, as the third most powerful country in the world, the Wei army will indeed be of good quality as long as they undergo systematic training.
The 500,000 main force gathered by Meng Chenglin can be said to be the most elite force among the Wei army.
When he led this elite force to the Blackwater City, he fought with the Huotuluo Army under the Blackwater City and instantly gained a huge advantage.
The elite main force of the Huotuluo Army was no match for the Wei Army in a frontal battle.
Not to mention, their main force gathered was only 300,000 people.
As for the Wei army, there were fully half a million people there.
One is more elite and has more people, and the other has lower combat power and fewer people. There is no suspense about who will win in a fight between the two.
Under the strong attack of the Wei army, the Huotuluo army was defeated again and again, losing hundreds of thousands of troops. It was no match at all.
What about Wei Jun?
Although they had won consecutive battles and defeated countless enemies, they were still suffering.
Because the Huo Tuluo Army discovered that they were no match for the Wei Army in a head-on confrontation.
People simply won’t fight you head-on.
The remaining 200,000 Huo Tuluo troops retreated directly into Blackwater City after losing several battles.
Then, relying on this strong city, we can directly defend it and fight against your Wei army.
How difficult is it to defeat a fortified city that is fully repaired, has plenty of money and food, and has a strong garrison?
Just look at Chu's attack on Daliang City and you will know.
Lu Yuan led an army of three million to besiege Daliang City. However, facing this fortified city with only more than 600,000 defenders, they fought for more than a month and failed to break the opponent's outer defense line.
Not to mention capturing Daliang City, they didn't even manage to break through the fortresses outside it and reach the edge of the city.
In the end, due to various things at the rear, they had to retreat after running out of food, temporarily ending the Daliang offensive and defensive battle.
Although Blackwater City is just a grassland city, and its scale and defense are far inferior to that of Daliang, as a capital of a hegemony, it still has the necessary configurations.
Two hundred thousand Huo Tuluo troops are defending this city. Meng Chenglin only has more than four hundred thousand soldiers and horses, and they can't defeat them even if they try to kill them.
Therefore, in the past few months of attacking the city, the Wei army suffered more than 100,000 casualties. The morale of the army was shaken, and they were unable to capture Heishui City.
On the contrary, the Huo Tuluo army in Heishui City, with the arrival of King Qin's troops from all sides on the grassland, became more and more numerous, and gradually overwhelmed the Wei army, reaching 400,000.
As for Meng Chenglin's unit, after experiencing successive losses, he only had a little over 300,000 left.
Moreover, the morale of these 300,000 soldiers was shaken, the soldiers were exhausted, morale was low, their logistics was cut off, and they faced a shortage of supplies.
The disadvantages of using strange tactics were revealed at this time.
Meng Chenglin led the army to raid Heishui City, which had a miraculous effect. It was a great shock and shaken the Huo Tuluo army.
But similarly, after he failed to capture the city quickly, perhaps after the supplies in the city were replenished.
The raid headquarters he led was also trapped in the dilemma of being surrounded by the Huituluo Army and cut off from its logistics.
At this point, even if he wanted to retreat, he couldn't do it under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of Huotuluo troops and in the hinterland of the opponent.
There is no news about the final fate of his troops.
Just news from the grassland.
The 500,000 troops in the rear abandoned by Meng Chenglin, as well as hundreds of thousands of civilians, were frantically attacked by the Huituluo army after the main force was withdrawn.
In the end, more than half of the nearly one million people in the army were killed or injured. After the remnants of the army retreated to Wei, they were directly captured by the Chu army that had already captured Guannei County, and all of them became prisoners.
Yes, he became a prisoner of the Chu army.
After Meng Chenglin went deep into the grassland, Huang Xin summoned Lu Yuan and asked him to launch the Northern Expedition.
As the first clone to sense the opportunity, he reacted quickly.
After knowing that the main force of the Wei State would not be able to return in a short time, Huang Xin decisively gave up the Helong land he had just conquered, led his troops back, and launched a surprise attack when the Wei State was not prepared at all.
After leaving a million civilians as a reserve force to defend Hanzhong, the remaining 1.4 million troops marched directly into Guannei County.
Then, after being deprived of one million of its elite main force, Shuofang County allocated another 400,000 northern Xinjiang troops to guard against the barbarian queens migrating south from Yanzhou.
Guannei County, where the imperial capital is located, only has 100,000 Wei troops left to defend it, and only three Xiantian Grandmasters are left.
100,000 people versus 1.4 million people. Innately, it’s 10 people versus 3 people.
Such a huge disparity was caused by mental calculations and unintentional calculations, and there was no defense at all.
Tell me how to fight?
In fact, it can't be fought at all.
When the Wei monarchs and ministers in Chang'an City received the news that the Chu army had suddenly turned against them and that more than a million troops had arrived at Guannei County, everyone was confused.
Then the confusion was followed by extreme panic.
Anger, fear, fear, panic...
Various emotions and scenes took turns to be staged in the court.
Then under the threat of the Chu army's continuous advance, no matter how unwilling or angry they were, the kings and ministers of Wei had to make a painful decision to hunt east.
However, this decision has only just been made.
An urgent report came from Nanyang.
The Chu army suddenly crossed the river and launched a sudden attack on the Wei army in Nanyang County.
The Chu army's offensive was fierce, and their numbers were even more numerous.
It had only been a few days since the war started, and the troops were already heading straight towards Nanyang County.
The Nanyang garrison only had more than 200,000 troops, and only three men were born. They were no match for the Chu army. They urgently requested the imperial court for rescue.
After hearing the news, the Chang'an monarchs and ministers who had originally planned to hunt eastward suddenly stopped.
Chu State not only sent troops from Hanzhong to attack Guannei County, but also attacked Nanyang?
Moreover, looking at the report from Nanyang, it seems that the Chu army there is even more numerous than here in Hanzhong County.
Think about it too.
Nanyang County was closer to Baling, the imperial capital of Chu State, and the Yangtze River was used as a waterway to transport grain. It was naturally easier to mobilize large armies than in Hanzhong, which crossed many mountains.
Therefore, the main force of the Chu army this time is in the east.
Here in the pass, it's just a partial division.
After thinking about this, the Wei monarchs and ministers quickly revised their plans.
The original east hunt was immediately changed to north hunt.
The east side is already dead, and the two counties of Henan and Nanyang combined only have 500,000 Wei troops.
This small number of troops is of no use against millions of Chu troops, and even defense is extremely difficult.
Going there is just to throw yourself into a trap and stumble into the encirclement of Chu State.
On the other hand, Shuofang County in the north still has 400,000 elite troops from Northern Xinjiang. Moreover, it is connected to the grassland and can communicate with the more than one million troops on the grassland nearby.
As long as they can contact General Meng Chenglin, let him lead his army back quickly.
Then after the two armies join together, there will be two million troops and more than ten innates.
At that time, if you go south to compete with the Chu army, you will be able to fight.
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