After saying that, Wei Wuji no longer held back anything, and the dazzling sword light continued to slash towards Wang Hao.
Wang Hao was defeated steadily after being killed, his armor fell to the ground like rags, and two blood stains slipped from the corners of his eyes. Wang Lu tried his best to resist, but the difference in strength was too huge.
After dozens of rounds, Wei Wuji felt that the time was right, and beheaded Wang Lu with a single blow. He held Wang Lu's head high and shouted: "Wang Lu is dead. If you don't surrender, you will be killed! Anyone who resists will not be spared."
The morale of the Qin army was not high. Seeing the death of their general, they no longer wanted to resist, so they all laid down their weapons and surrendered.
"Zhang Yan, you immediately lead your people to pacify the people in the city, use work-for-relief, and recruit people to build houses and build city walls. If there is a shortage of food, you can mobilize some military rations. The people in the city were our enemies before, but now Deng City has been destroyed , If you want to gain a foothold here, you must treat everyone as one of your own, and never have any contempt." Wei Wuji ordered.
"No." Zhang Yan said quickly.
"If there is provocation, don't be merciful. We are not here to plunder, let alone charity." Wei Wuji warned again.
"My subordinates know." Zhang Yan said. With Wei Wuji's words, he felt confident.
"Li Tong." Wei Wuji looked at Li Tong.
"The end is here." Li Tong said, cupping his fists.
"You lead an army of five thousand, escort the prisoners north, and hand them over to the king." Wei Wuji said.
Before leading his troops south, Wei Wuji had discussed with Zhao Kuo. After winning the battle, the city would belong to Wei and the prisoners would belong to Zhao.
Dengcheng is too far away from Zhao State. Even if Zhao State temporarily captures it, it will be difficult to hold it for a long time. It is better to hand it over to Wei State.
Although prisoners will consume a lot of food and grass, as long as the food is sufficient, in the long run, the prisoners can create more value and be more beneficial to Zhao.
"No." Li Tong said.
"Zhu Hai." Wei Wuji looked at Zhu Hai again, "You lead an army of five thousand to block the Han River embankment as soon as possible."
"No." Zhu Hai said.
In the next few days, Wei Wuji led his army to capture several surrounding cities such as Gaohu, Yi, and Lucheng, and then spread the message to various places.
The main force on the front line was defeated, and the surrounding cities no longer dared to ignore the Wei army. Lucheng, Luocheng, Yancheng and other cities in the south offered their cities and surrendered, expressing their submission to Wei.
As for the cities farther away, they may feel that they are still safe for the time being and do not choose to surrender.
After Wei Wuji accepted the letter of surrender, he gave up leading his army southward and instead fought northwestward along the Han River.
At this time, almost all the troops of the Qin State were in Rangcheng and Yuzhong, and the remaining part was in the hands of Wang Ling. The other cities were sparsely populated, and there were not even a few able-bodied men. Facing the pressure of the Wei army, they did not dare to do anything. Resist.
The Wei army spent almost no time attacking cities along the way, and attacked more than ten cities including Linpin, Xiayin, Shixi, etc., and then went north along the Xi River, preparing to join Pang Nuan's troops and attack Zhonghe Xicheng.
Bai Qi was silent for a long time when he learned that Deng City had been captured and Wang Lu had died in battle.
It's not that he doesn't want to send troops to support Wang Lu, but that there are already insufficient troops in Rangcheng. If he divides his troops and goes south, it is very likely that the Zhao army will be divided and attacked.
By then, not only will Deng City be unable to be saved, but even the reinforcements sent will be in danger.
Bai Qi sent people to tell Wang Lu that if Dengcheng could not be defended, he could abandon Dengcheng and go south to defend Yancheng.
As long as Nanjun is still in the hands of Qin, the gain or loss of one or two cities does not matter. After Qin recovers its strength, it can be taken back at any time.
But Wei Wuji was too fast. It only took three days from flooding Deng City to capturing Deng City. Deng City changed hands before Wang Lu could react.
"Your Majesty...do you know?" After a while, Bai Qi asked in a hoarse voice.
"I already know, Your Majesty... His old illness relapsed, and he vomited blood and fell into coma." Wei Ran sighed, his eyes no longer had the brightness of yesterday.
At this point, everyone can see that Qin's defeat is imminent. Unless there is a shocking ability, it is impossible for Qin to change its destiny.
Even if the coalition forces are
At this time, the troops were sent south, and Nanjun and Qianzhong counties could be captured overnight. The Qin army had no ability to stop it.
It's just that the coalition's goal is the main force of the Qin army, not to attack the city and plunder the territory. As long as the main force of the Qin army is eliminated, Nanjun will be at their fingertips, and they may even have a chance to invade the hinterland of Guanzhong.
Of course, the main reason is that Nanjun and Qianzhong County are far away from Zhao State. Even if Zhao State is defeated, it will not be able to occupy them. In the end, it will only be in vain to benefit South Korea and Wei.
When the Four Kingdoms conquered Qin, Zhao had the largest number of troops and made the greatest contribution. Zhao Kuo could gain relatively little benefit from the perspective of uniting his allies, but it was absolutely impossible for him to contribute in the front and let South Korea and Wei take advantage.
If Zhao State had not had the absolute strength to suppress South Korea and Wei, and Wei Wuji, the commander of the Wei army, and Tian Dan, the commander of the Korean army, were both sent by the Zhao state, the coalition forces might have fallen apart due to their respective interests.
"I'm going to tell the king to prepare to evacuate Rangcheng." Bai Qi's face was filled with bitterness.
"We...mean...to negotiate peace with Zhao Guo." Wei Ran said slowly.
It would be a good thing for Qin if it could persuade Zhao to withdraw its troops and exchange prisoners from Zhao at a certain cost.
Although the Qin State lost troops and generals in this battle, the coalition forces did not invade Guanzhong. The Qin State's vitality was still there. It would not be a problem to return to its peak in five or ten years.
On the other hand, if Qin refuses to negotiate peace and waits until the coalition forces invade Guanzhong, even if Qin reaches its full potential and drives out the coalition forces, the losses will be huge.
Where the teacher is, there are thorns! After the army, there will be a bad year!
Military disasters are no less terrible than natural disasters.
"Who sent Zhao Jun as envoy?" Bai Qi asked.
"Lu Buwei." Wei Ran said.
"I will lead a large army and stay with Lu Buwei to negotiate with the Zhao army. Marquis Rang will accompany the king to withdraw from the city through a small road. If the peace talks succeed, everyone will be happy. If the peace talks fail, the king will not fall into the hands of the Zhao army." Bai Qi said.
"Okay." Wei Ran nodded.
…
In Zhao Jun's camp, Zhao Kuo is reading the letter sent from Handan.
Since the expedition, Lin Xiangru would send him a letter every five days, telling him about the big and small things happening in the country and how he dealt with them.
Tian Shu, An Ning, and Zhao Ji would also send letters to Zhao Kuo, telling him about trivial matters in life, the progress of his children's studies, etc., and then telling Zhao Kuo to pay attention to safety on the front line and not to charge forward. , just leave it to the soldiers to go into battle and kill the enemy.
Zhao Sheng, Yu Xin and others occasionally write letters, but they don't say much. They usually only send letters when they encounter problems.
According to Zhao Bao, Zhao's pasture on the grassland was attacked by barbarians, suspected to be Ding Ling.
After the Zhao State destroyed the Xiongnu, it did not have enough manpower to occupy all the grasslands. In addition, the Donghu Dynasty later moved eastward, leaving a large amount of grassland vacant.
The Ding Ling people originally lived near Beihai, where it was extremely cold, so they naturally wanted to go south to occupy a relatively warm place.
In the past, the south was the territory of the Huns, and Ding Ling was no match for the Huns, but now the Huns are gone!
The Zhao State had limited manpower and could not take care of so many places, so it did not take care of Ding Ling. Ding Ling had acquired a large amount of territory and had no idea of expansion in a short time. In addition, there had been no major natural disasters in the grassland in the past few years. Ding Ling people Things were going pretty well, and the two sides were naturally in harmony with each other.
A few years later, Ding Ling grew stronger and stronger, annexing several surrounding tribes. It was quite as powerful as the Donghu and Xiongnu in the past, and some were no longer satisfied with sticking to their current territory.
This year, Zhao State happened to start expanding pastures and vigorously develop grassland animal husbandry.
As a result, a conflict broke out between the two sides.
However, Ding Ling was afraid of the strength of Zhao State and did not dare to plunder. He just hid his banner and destroyed several newly expanded pastures of Zhao State.
Zhao Kuo put the letter aside. He was not too angry, but felt a little disgusted. The nomads on the grassland were like leeks. After cutting off one crop, there was another crop, and they could not finish cutting it.
Originally, he thought that after the Huns were destroyed and Zhao occupied the grasslands, there would be no new ones.
Enemy.
But Ding Lingren slapped him in the face.
The grassland is extremely vast, and Zhao can only occupy a small part of it. Unless he can plow the entire grassland and set up counties to govern it, he will never be able to completely wipe out the nomads.
If Zhao State spends a lot of money, it can be done by plowing the courtyard and sweeping the holes, but it is impossible to build counties.
Most areas of the grassland are really not suitable for the Zhao people. To put it bluntly, even if Zhao Kuo enfeoffs those areas to the nobles, no nobles will be willing to go.
If effective governance and communication cannot be achieved, even if some Zhao people are forcibly moved there, their language and customs will gradually separate from the Zhao people after one or two generations, and a new nation will eventually be formed.
This is caused by the geographical environment and cannot be changed by humans.
Zhao Kuo thought for a while and wrote back to Zhao Bao, asking Monan County to send someone to warn the Ding Ling people. If the Ding Ling people ignored the warning, they would temporarily shrink the pasture until Zhao Guo was free.
After annexing Yan State, Zhao State has no shortage of pastures. Temporary patience is nothing. The one who laughs in the end wins.
"Send it to Handan and give it to Lord Pingyang." Zhao Kuo handed the letter to Liu Ping.
"No." Liu Ping took the letter.
"Your Majesty, the envoy from the Qin Army wants to see you." At this time, the guards reported outside the camp.
"Let him in." Zhao Kuo thought for a moment and then said.
"Foreign minister, I'd like to pay my respects to King Zhao. I haven't seen you for several months, but King Zhao is still handsome and handsome." Lu Buwei stepped into the tent and saluted with a smile.
"Mr. Lu Buwei is here, please take a seat quickly. My left eyelid has been twitching today. Mr. Zi Bing said that good things will happen when my left eyelid twitches. I was just curious about what good things would happen, so here I am." Zhao Kuo stood up quickly and said: Very enthusiastic.
Gongsun Long was sitting next to him, the corners of his mouth twitching. When did he say that good things would happen if his left eyelid twitched? The king's ability to lie was getting better and better.
Lu Buwei's mouth twitched like Gongsun Long's. He could definitely hear how hypocritical Zhao Kuo's words were. They were as hypocritical as his praise of Zhao Kuo's handsomeness.
"The foreign minister came here this time to represent Qin and negotiate peace with Zhao." Lu Buwei leaned over and said.
"Is the Qin State talking about peace? Not suing for peace?" Zhao Kuo slowly raised his head, and his two eyes shot towards Lu Buwei like sharp arrows, seeming to penetrate Lu Buwei's heart.
"We are talking about peace. Although our Qin State has been defeated, it still has more than 100,000 troops, as well as natural dangers such as Wuguan Pass and Hangu Pass..." Lu Buwei said loudly.
"Since we are talking about peace, the envoy should go back first. We will wait until we have wiped out the Qin State's more than 100,000 troops and broke through the so-called natural danger before we can talk." Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said.
Lu Buwei's face instantly turned livid, and Zhao Kuo did not take him or Qin seriously at all.
"What if...we seek peace?" After a while, Lu Buwei squeezed out a few words through his teeth.
A sense of humiliation filled his body.
At this moment, Lu Buwei deeply felt what it means for a weak country to have no diplomacy.
"To seek peace, you must have a peace-seeking attitude. Is this the attitude of Qin to seek peace?" Zhao Kuo glanced at Lu Buwei.
"What should King Zhao do?" Lu Buwei asked in a deep voice.
"It's very simple for Qin to ask for peace. Let King Ji of Qin bear a thorn and plead guilty, and come to me personally to ask for peace." Zhao Kuo said.
"This is impossible. Your Majesty, with his body worth thousands of gold, will never bear the thorns to plead guilty, let alone come to the Zhao army's camp to ask for peace." Lu Buwei jumped up in shock.
It is a good story that Lian Po carried a bush to plead guilty, but if King Ji of Qin carried a bush to plead guilty to Zhao Kuo, it would be a shame for the king of Qin and even for the entire Qin country, which is almost equivalent to surrendering.
This is something that a subjugated king would do only when the country is destroyed.
"A body of ten thousand gold? Haha, he, the King of Qin, has a body of ten thousand gold. Am I not Zhao Kuo who has a body of ten thousand gold? There were nearly a million people in both armies, and they attacked and killed me in full view of everyone. I just asked the King of Qin to stand on a tree to plead guilty. , is this too much?" Zhao Kuo sneered.
"..." Lu Buwei was silent. To be fair, the King of Qin attacked and killed Zhao Kuo, and Zhao Kuo just asked the King of Qin to plead guilty, which was definitely not excessive.
But in this case, the only way to
This is true for two ordinary people, but it will never work for two monarchs.
Gongsun Long kept smiling next to him. He was so speechless by Zhao Kuo back then, and finally sold himself to Zhao Kuo. Now it is finally Lu Buwei's turn.
"It is impossible for Qin to agree to this condition." Finally, Lu Buwei said.
If he goes back with this condition, he will be hanged up and killed by the Qin generals.
"Then let's fight. I want to see how long your Qin country can last." Zhao Kuo waved his hand, indicating that Lu Buwei could leave.
Lu Buwei glanced at Zhao Kuo unwillingly, leaned over and saluted: "Foreign minister, please retire."
…
"Why are you back so soon?" Fan Ju asked strangely when he saw Lu Buwei coming back.
Lu Buwei's mission to Zhao Jun had two purposes. One was to negotiate peace, and the other was to attract Zhao Jun's attention so that Qin Jun could retreat.
According to the original plan, Lu Buwei would talk to Zhao Jun for at least five or six days.
As a result, Lu Buwei came back only half an hour later.
"Alas!" When Lu Buwei saw Fan Ju, he had mixed feelings for a moment and sighed deeply, "The King of Zhao refused our army's request for peace...to negotiate for peace. He asked the king to bear the burden and apologize before agreeing to negotiate for peace..."
"King Zhao is trying to push our Qin country to a dead end." After hearing this, Fan Ju's eyes flashed with a fierce look. He tossed his robe and strode towards the king's tent. "In this case, our Qin army It’s just a last ditch effort!”
