For a long time, Zhao Kuo still believed that this was not caused by the talented people in the Yan Army. It was more likely that it was a true portrayal of the Yan Army's rabble.
The simple reason is that first of all, the Yan army cannot gather so many elite troops, so most of the 160,000 troops must be make-up troops.
And if the Yan army really goes north to Daijun with all its elite troops to intercept them, then this army must march carefully, and even more quickly.
It is impossible for our army to discover it so easily, let alone tonight, when we are still more than a day away from Yanyu City.
Therefore, the Yan army is simply weak! Not so much conspiracy. After understanding this, Zhao Kuo was obviously more confident about the previous strategic layout.
As for the more than 10,000 troops that Lord Pingyuan finally brought out, they can be used a little bit, but how to use them is not something Zhao Kuo needs to worry about.
Immediately, Zhao Kuo handed the token on his body to Zhao Ping. Said: "Hurry out of the city and go to the mountains and forests in the south. Give this token to General Li Mu Li who is marching in the mountains, and inform General Li in detail about the current situation in Handan City. Let him use this token as a proof. Mobilize the Handan army."
"Yes." Zhao Ping agreed immediately. There was no way, Zhao Ping was the only one who knew about the situation in Handan. Although Zhao Kuo knew that he had been running around for days, the matter of delivering messages to Li Mu's army could only be left to Zhao Ping.
Of course, isn't this Zhao Kuo's painstaking efforts? Although sending letters is painful, we avoid the danger of being trapped in an isolated city!
"Sun Gu, replace Zhao Ping and others with some good horses." Zhao Kuo then said to Sun Gu who was standing aside.
"Yes." Sun Gu also agreed immediately.
"Thank you, General." Zhao Ping, who was about to leave, was slightly startled, then accepted the order and bowed. After sending Zhao Ping and others away, Zhao Kuo and his soldiers came to the tower and continued to make the final preparations before the war.
Although Zhao Kuo said that this battle would be harmless, in fact, Zhao Kuo knew very well how dangerous this battle would be.
Others, at most, only saw the threat from the 60,000 Yan army on the bright side, but Zhao Kuo knew that there was far more than the mere 60,000 Yan army staring at him in that vast dark night.
But there is no other way. If you want to catch big fish, you have to be willing to bait! He is obviously the most fragrant fishing bait nowadays.
Zhao Kuo knew better that he could not lose, let alone die, otherwise the Qin army, which was originally a containment move, might be ready to make another move, and all the development opportunities he had finally gained with a tragic victory in Changping would be wasted.
History will return to its original starting point. This may be the second dangerous challenge that Zhao Kuo will face once the battle of Zi Changping begins.
Fortunately, Zhao Kuo seems to have predicted that the road to victory will not be smooth sailing. Those who cannot defeat me will eventually make me stronger!
"Command, hang up my general's flag with the word 'Zhao' high! There must be my general's flag with the word 'Zhao' on all four cities, so that enemies several miles away can see that I, the general, have arrived. With the city!" Zhao Kuo told his subordinates with confidence.
"Yes." The messenger agreed. Soon, with the clatter of horse hooves, they ran out of the city again, with bright red embroidery on each side.
The banner of "Zhao" is rising slowly. Another night passed quickly, the sun rose reluctantly and lazily, and in the morning mist, several riders quickly approached the city.
It was none other than Zhao Ping who had been running around all night last night. That's right, after these people finished delivering the letter, they did not stay under Li Mu's command. Instead, they rushed back to the city.
But when Zhao Kuo saw a few people, it was already the time of application.
"Why are you back?" Zhao Kuo frowned and asked Zhao Ping, who was helping on the tower.
"General, after the general has finished delivering the general's orders, he will naturally return to give them!" Zhao Ping replied with a calm smile.
Of course Zhao Kuo understood that this was just Zhao Ping's excuse. If he came just to answer the order, he should report it to himself immediately.
Even if you are afraid of disturbing your rest, you can always find yourself in one morning. But it was past noon this afternoon, and it was almost two o'clock in the morning, before he was discovered by himself. Obviously, these people were hiding from him on purpose. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, they appeared openly in front of him.
The purpose was self-evident. He obviously saw clearly his intention to get them to leave Yanyucheng, so he hid and waited until the Yan army was approaching before he appeared calmly.
Zhao Kuo looked at Zhao Ping, who was sweating profusely, and sighed, shook his head, and said, "Why bother?" But seeing a smile on Zhao Ping's face, he said, "You can fight side by side with the general. Fighting is such a great honor, why should I say it is only a hardship?"
"Don't you know how dangerous this place is?" Zhao Kuo asked again.
"General, don't you know?!" Before Zhao Ping could answer, a soldier behind him who was carrying a stone already answered.
These six simple words made Zhao Kuo speechless for a moment. The meaning is very clear: Your general is not afraid of danger, how can we be afraid?
! Faced with such subordinates, what else could Zhao Kuo say? !
"Go find Sun Gu! With your fighting strength, you shouldn't waste it on moving." Zhao Kuo sighed again and said: "Zhao Ping, just follow me."
"Yes." Zhao Ping and the soldiers behind him clasped their fists and agreed. Here, Zhao Kuo has just dealt with Zhao Ping and others. Not far from the city, there is another burst of dust.
Along with the stirred up dust, an urgent voice came into my ears: report. . . . . . The original scout was rewarded: traces of the Yan army were found fifteen miles north of Yulan City!
Listening to the scout's report, Zhao Kuo remained calm, but not everyone had Zhao Kuo's calm attitude.
In just a moment, above the head of Yanyucheng, visible to the naked eye, the city became more and more nervous! Fortunately, Zhao Kuo's majestic body is like a sea-fixing needle, firmly nailed into the hearts of all soldiers and people - the general is here, so what do we have to fear!
Immediately, the nervous mood turned into busy figures! The long-prepared fire was finally lit, and large pots of golden juice were placed on top of the fire. The disgusting smell rose along with thick black smoke, and bundles of arrows were immersed in it. Stir it until it is covered with the essence of the golden juice, and then lift it up to reveal the fresh odor underneath the golden juice.
Several newly added arrow towers and four bed crossbows that had been repaired overnight and had just been delivered were undergoing final adjustments. Together with the bed crossbows, they found ten more catapults from the arsenal in the city.
These ten catapults were also the objects that Zhao Kuo was busy with all night last night, and they also gave Zhao Kuo a lot more confidence in guarding Yanyu City.
However, when these dozen big guys arrived, the ignorant generals obviously showed extremely strong interest in the bed crossbow. Several captains in charge of the city wall defense clamored to put the bed crossbow in A city gate that you can defend yourself.
It’s no wonder they were there, after all, this bed crossbow was a magical weapon in defensive warfare. Whether the enemy's arrow tower or heavy infantry, fire a volley to keep the hole through!
Of course, Sun Gu, the general who defended the city, also said: The enemy's main attack must be the south gate. As a weapon for defending the city, bed crossbows should naturally be placed at the south gate.
The captains of the east and west gates said: The most elite troops of more than 1,500 people have gathered at the southern city gate. Our two city gates only have more than 800 defense troops, and half of them are old and weak people in the city. It's not too much to ask for two bed crossbows to strengthen the defense.
After all, if one of the city gates is broken, it is still broken! Only the captain of the North Gate looked at the three people in front of him with no interest at all.
The intention of "going to war". The reason is very simple. A very important reason why Yanyucheng is an important town is its special location - like a big lock lying between Handan County and Dai County.
The city is built on a mountain, and the northern city gate is directly adjacent to Daijun. If you want to attack the south gate, you not only have to go around the mountain, but you may also be attacked by the hinterland of Daijun's troops.
As for the Yan army being flanked, unless it breaks through the other gates, it will not be able to receive timely reinforcements. Once it is flanked from the front and back, it will only be a matter of time before it is annihilated.
If you can break through the remaining city gates, then why go all the way around? Therefore, the north gate was difficult to be attacked by the Yan army. Of course, just in case, Sun Gu still placed two hundred soldiers and three hundred old and weak soldiers at the south gate.
As a result, out of the five thousand troops, only more than 1,400 people were left, of which 400 were Zhao Kuo's personal troops.
These are the last reserves of Yanyucheng. Of course, as the moving work came to an end, from the morning, Zhao Kuo ordered the approximately 3,000 young men in the city to form a team and begin to intensify training.
Faced with the problem of bed crossbows, Zhao Kuo also thought twice. First of all, there are only four bed crossbows. It is certain to use them together. The effect of separate bed crossbows is far less shocking than the effect of four bed crossbows in parallel.
Secondly, considering the actual combat strength of the Yan army, presumably its generals would still want to use force to overcome skill and use the wide front of the south gate to conduct an ant attack to take advantage of their own large number of troops.
Then the decision is already obvious.
"The bed crossbows are concentrated at the south gate. Remember to hide them. They must be exposed when the Yan army intensively charges to attack the city! Understand!" Zhao Kuo said to the captain at the south gate.
"No!" The captain of Nanmen was overjoyed when he heard this: "The general will definitely let them play their best role!" Immediately, after receiving the order, the captain of Nanmen immediately led his people to arrange the crossbows.
Only the captains from the east and west gates were left with envious looks on their faces. But what they didn't know was that in Zhao Kuo's heart, the status of these four crossbows was far inferior to that of the seemingly heavy and useless catapult.
"Don't worry, I can't give you the bed crossbow. This catapult can still be used to support you in critical moments." Zhao Kuo said lightly.
Just, the effect. . . . . .
