In the king's tent, Qin Wangji became even older. He was slumped on the couch, his eyes were dim, his hair was as pale as snow, and the wrinkles on his face were like pine bark piled together. Only the slight rise and fall of his chest told the guards that he was still alive.
The oil lamp burned squeakingly, emitting a faint burnt smell. The two maids stood aside, their heads lowered, not daring to move.
"Your Majesty." Fan Ju pushed open the curtain and entered the tent with Lu Buwei one after another. The wind blew in from the outside along the gaps. The lights shook violently and were almost extinguished. Lu Buwei, who was walking behind, quickly lowered the curtain.
"The Prime Minister is here, and the Young Master is also... back." Qin Wangji tried his best to open his eyes. He supported his body with two dry arms and tried to sit up. The maid hurriedly stepped forward to help him.
"Your Majesty, King Zhao refuses to negotiate peace." Lu Buwei leaned over and explained the matter.
"Alas." Qin Wangji sighed deeply. He had expected this. After all, if he were Zhao Kuo, he would not be able to give up this opportunity to weaken Qin. However, after actually learning about it, he was still a little disappointed.
"Your Majesty, I have another plan, which may be able to make Zhao country retreat!" Fan Ju took a step forward and said through gritted teeth.
"If the Prime Minister has any clever ideas, just tell him." Qin Wangji's eyes lit up.
"In addition to this place in our Qin State, General Wang Ling also has an army of 50,000, confronting Zhao's famous general Lian Po in Hanoi. The king can pass an order to Wang Ling, leaving part of the army to confuse Lian Po, and lead the rest of the army from Hanoi attacks Handan. At this time, the main forces of Zhao are on the front line, and the country is empty. Once they learn that the capital is surrounded by a large army, they will inevitably withdraw. The coalition is called the Four Kingdoms, but in fact it is entirely supported by Zhao. As long as Zhao withdraws, the remaining three countries will inevitably withdraw. ." Fan Ju said in a deep voice.
Zhao State refused to negotiate peace. Han, Wei and Qi followed Zhao State wholeheartedly, while Chu State stood aside and watched.
This was the only way he could think of to break the situation.
As far as he knew, Zhao State, like Qin State, had most of its troops on the front line.
But the difference is that the Qin State has natural dangers such as Hangu Pass, Wuguan Pass, and Dashan Pass, while the Zhao State has no dangers to defend. From Hanoi to Handan, there is a vast plain and no large army is stationed.
The only one that might interfere with the Qin army was Lian Po's army, but Wang Ling could completely use the time difference and capture Handan before Lian Po received the news.
Even if Handan fails to be captured, as long as Zhao Kuo is attracted to return, it will be a victory for Qin.
"Xiang Guo really has a brilliant plan!" Qin Wangji said excitedly.
Handan is to the State of Zhao, just like Xianyang is to the State of Qin.
And Hebei, where Handan is located, is to the State of Zhao what Guanzhong is to the State of Qin.
This is the foundation of a country.
Even if the Qin army cannot capture Handan, they can still loot the surrounding areas.
Zhao State would never just watch Hebei face the risk of being plundered by the Qin army.
"Please also ask your Majesty to retreat to the city first, and then give the order to General Wang Ling." Fan Ju said.
Xicheng is close to Wuguan. If the Zhao army desperately attacks the city, the Qin army can withdraw to Wuguan at any time and refuse to defend the city.
If they stay in Rangcheng, once the Zhao army receives news that the Qin army is attacking Handan, they will attack the city at all costs, and Rangcheng will most likely be captured.
"Okay." After hearing Fan Ju's plan, Qin Wangji seemed to feel some hope again, and he was in a good mood for a while.
That night, Wang Jian flew from Rangcheng to Xicheng with Qin Wangji on his back.
Under normal circumstances, as a monarch, Qin Wangji would never put his life and death in the hands of others, even if the possibility of Wang Jian murdering him was very, very low.
But Rangcheng was besieged, and it was obviously more dangerous to follow the army to evacuate.
At Mao hour, groups of Qin troops secretly slipped out of Rangcheng and quietly withdrew towards Xicheng.
Bai Qi chose to withdraw his troops at around four o'clock in the morning and almost five o'clock in the morning. By this time, it was already light and it would not affect the march. Zhao Jun has not yet woken up, or has just woken up. His spirit is the most relaxed and his combat effectiveness is also the lowest.
The Qin army had already recharged its strength, and even if it encountered an ambush by the Zhao army, it would still be able to defeat it.
"Your Majesty, we have found traces of the Qin army and are withdrawing to the northwest." Zhao Kuo was still sleeping soundly. A scout rushed into the camp, was stopped by the guards, and stood outside the camp to report urgently.
.
"Say it again." Zhao Kuo woke up suddenly, sat up from the couch, took his robe and put it on himself, and let the scouts in.
The scout quickly said it again.
"How many troops are there? What is the flag?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"It's Bai Qi's flag. The army... I haven't counted it clearly, but it's conservatively estimated to be more than 30,000. The team is extremely long, and I can't see the end of it." The scout said, cupping his fists.
"Bang the drum. Pass the order and order Tian Dan, Yan Ju, Meng Ao, and Le Cheng to immediately lead the cavalry to pursue the Qin army. Order Mengwu and Touman to block the Qin army. Order Jia Yan to lead the army to attack Rangcheng. The other generals will hold their tents. Discuss the matter internally." Zhao Kuo immediately ordered.
In addition to surrounding Rangcheng in three directions, Zhao Kuo also ordered Mengwu and Touman to ambush on a hill ten miles west of the city.
It's said to be an ambush, but in fact it's just a matter of setting up camp there openly.
Because he didn't know when the Qin army would withdraw, there was no way to talk about an ambush, but he couldn't let the Qin army leave safely.
If both sides are infantry and the Qin army retreats, the Zhao army will have no good solution. Although the Qin army is defeated, its organizational strength is still there.
But Zhao Jun still has tens of thousands of cavalry, how could he give up this opportunity.
"promise!"
Soon, the sound of drums sounded from all the camps of Zhao Army, spreading far and wide in the quiet morning.
The moment the sound of drums reached their ears, most of the soldiers jumped up from their couches almost as a reflex, quickly put on their clothes, picked up their weapons, and went to assemble outside the camp.
From beginning to end, there were no unnecessary words or questions about what happened.
Everything felt so natural, as if it had been rehearsed countless times.
From the first day they joined the army, the general told them that once the drums sounded, no matter what they were doing, everyone must assemble immediately, without exception.
Anyone who fails to assemble within half a quarter of an hour will be punished.
Such demanding requirements are unprecedented in this era and almost impossible to achieve.
Because you can't expect a group of strong men who have just been recruited and have not received much training to do this. It's already good to be able to barely do what is ordered and prohibited.
To do this, the most basic requirement is professional soldiers.
Only when soldiers are regarded as a profession and everyone can gain benefits, honors, and status from it, will they do everything well from the bottom of their hearts.
When they do it from the heart, things that others think are difficult are not so difficult to do.
This is also the reason why the Zhao army is a level stronger than the armies of other countries.
Those from other countries who can do this are either military spirit legions or veterans who have survived hundreds of battles. Each country only has a few thousand. Qin used to be able to exceed 10,000.
What the Army Soul Corps and the veterans who have survived hundreds of battles can do is an instinct formed by spending a long time on the battlefield.
If you couldn't do this, you would be dead.
But Zhao Jun is different.
Zhao Jun was trained hard and spent a lot of money and food.
In the entire Zhao Kingdom, more than 100,000 soldiers could be gathered upon hearing the drum.
This is where Zhao Jun really crushed the Six Nations.
Soon, Yan Ju led the assembled Zhao Feiqi and rushed out. It took less than a quarter of an hour from the sound of the drums to the first cavalryman stepping out of the camp.
Immediately afterwards, Le Cheng led the Youyun Iron Cavalry to follow Zhao Feiqi and kill him.
However, Youyun Iron Cavalry was much slower than Zhao Feiqi, and Zhao Feiqi quickly pulled away from them, and was overtaken by the cavalry behind them.
After receiving the order, the camps in the south and north of the city quickly dispatched troops to attack.
Bai Qi calculated that Zhao Jun was sleeping at this time, but he never expected that Zhao Jun would assemble so quickly. It only took a quarter of an hour from the sound of the drums to the moment they charged out.
Don't say you've seen it, you've never heard of it.
Even Wu Qi, the master of military training, couldn't do it.
"General, there is Zhao Jun's camp on the hill ahead. Look.
The scale should be about 10,000 people. Wang Jian, who rushed back from Xicheng, said to Bai Qi.
He had just carried Qin Wangji back to Xicheng, and he had almost completely investigated the situation along the way.
Not every legion has a strong person in the extraordinary realm who personally serves as a scout.
"Sure enough, Zhao Jun has an ambush." Bai Qi snorted coldly, "Give me the order to go around and don't disturb Zhao Jun."
The top priority is to preserve the strength of the Qin army and withdraw to Xicheng, rather than fight with the Zhao army.
"General, Zhao Jun is catching up from behind." Soon, Bai Qi received another report from the scouts. He was shocked and even suspected that the news had been leaked in advance.
However, only a few people knew the specific time of the Qin army's retreat. Ordinary soldiers did not know. They just knew that the army would withdraw in the near future.
"Wang Jian, you lead the cavalry to clear the way in front." Bai Qi said to Wang Jian.
"No." Wang Jian said with clasped fists, leading the Longxi cavalry and all the Qiang cavalry towards the front.
Most of the Qiang cavalry surrendered, and some were killed in the battle. Now there are not many left. Together with the Longxi cavalry, there are less than 10,000. This is also the last cavalry of the Qin State.
"Xin Wu, Xiang Shou, each of you will lead an army of 10,000 people back to Xicheng from a small road. There are generals who will attract Zhao Jun's attention. Zhao Jun will not notice you." Bai Qi said.
Before the Zhao army could catch up, he must try his best to save the Qin army's strength.
"General." Xin Wu and Xiang Shou said urgently.
"Obey the order." Bai Qi said in a deep voice.
"Nuo." Xin Wu and Xiang Shou reluctantly led their legions to separate from the main army and rushed to Xicheng from a small road.
"The black-armored army and this general are behind you." Bai Qi looked at the black-armored army, which was not full yet, with only 3,100 soldiers, and sighed in his heart. He didn't know how many black-armored troops were left after this battle.
…
"So many people!" Yan Ju led Zhao Feiqi to chase the Qin army not far away. Looking at the Qin army spreading like a long snake to the end of the earth, he couldn't help but sigh.
"General, shall we charge?" Lieutenant General Li Qian asked.
"Why are so many people charging at you? You really think you are invincible." Yan Ju glared at Li Qian.
Although Zhao Feiqi can also fight in close combat, there is no need to fight in close combat at this time.
Li Qian shrank his neck, smiled and stopped talking.
"Fire arrows!" Yan Ju ordered, leading Zhao Feiqi to fly past Bai Qi like the wind, leaving only a shower of arrows in the sky. Bai Qi was so angry that his face was livid, but there was nothing he could do against Zhao Feiqi.
This is the scary thing about cavalry!
There is no distinction between cavalry and infantry who is stronger or weaker.
However, the speed of the cavalry determines that it will always have the initiative in the war, while the infantry can only be passively beaten.
Like now.
Boom boom boom!
The overwhelming rain of arrows fell on the Black Armored Army, causing only ten casualties. However, the explosion after Zhao Feiqi's attack made the Black Armored Army disgraced and their morale couldn't help but drop.
Seeing this, the Qin army fired arrows at Zhao Feiqi to counterattack, but Zhao Feiqi nimbly dodged it. The arrows sank into the soil and stirred up a little dust.
Zhao Feiqi laughed extremely wildly and kept shooting Qin Jun.
The Black Armored Army was able to block Zhao Feiqi's arrows, but the ordinary Qin Army did not have this ability.
"General, there is a mountain road ahead." Li Qian pointed to the hillside not far away and said.
There are no big mountains nearby, but there are many small hillsides like this, which will have a big impact on Zhao Jun's pursuit.
"Just rush over this hill!" Yan Ju said in a deep voice.
Zhao Feiqi's horse quickly extended nearly two feet of golden light wings to both sides. The huge light wings flapped violently. Zhao Feiqi lightly jumped up from the ground, then crossed to two hundred meters away, and then easily They flew over the hillside, not even forgetting to attack the Qin army.
"Comfortable!" Zhao Feiqi shouted.
"It feels like our strength has increased a lot recently!" Li Qian said.
In the past, Zhao Feiqi could not fly so far, and it could not even be called
Flying can only be a few dozen meters at most. Now Zhao Feiqi can fly more than two hundred meters. If he burns his military soul, he can even fly a mile away.
"It may be related to the recovery of spiritual energy, or it may be related to the previous emperor's liquid, or it may be related to the national destiny. But I don't know the details. I just heard that our Zhao Feiqi is linked to the national destiny of the Zhao Kingdom. The stronger the national destiny, the stronger our Zhao Feiqi's strength will be. On the contrary, if the national destiny of the Zhao Kingdom weakens, our Zhao Feiqi's strength will also decline accordingly." Yan Ju said.
He didn't take it seriously before, but recently with the continuous rise of Zhao State and the increasing strength of Zhao Feiqi, he suddenly remembered it.
"What about other military spirit armies, such as the Imperial Guards?" Li Qian asked.
"There is an essential difference between the Imperial Guard and us. The Imperial Guard relies more on the king, while we rely on the entire Zhao Kingdom." Yan Ju said.
This was something he discovered only after he gradually mastered Zhao Feiqi. Of course, there were no other military soul corps in Zhao State before, so he couldn't make a comparison.
"I don't understand." Li Qian shook his head.
"Actually, I don't know much about it. Lord Du Ping told me. According to him, if the Zhao Kingdom is destroyed, Zhao Feiqi will immediately fall into the Army Soul Army, but the Imperial Guard will not. I don't know the details. Yes." Yan Ju shook his head. "Let's not talk about this now. The main thing is to kill the enemy."
"General...them, they flew over." Qin Jun opened his mouth wide and looked at the scene in front of him in disbelief.
This was the first time for most people to see this scene, and it had a huge impact on the morale of the Qin army.
"There are so many of us that Zhao Jun dare not come down." The generals of the Qin army kept comforting the soldiers, but they could not bring back their morale no matter what.
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