The autumn wind blew across the land of the north, casting a golden glow. The warm sunshine passed through the windows and quietly fell on Zhao Kuo, who was reviewing the memorial in the palace.
Suddenly, a rush of footsteps came from the corridor outside the palace.
Soon, the footsteps stopped suddenly outside the door.
"My king, General Sun Gu of the Yulin Guards, wants to see you." The eunuch ordered Zhao Zhong to whisper beside Zhao Kuo.
Zhao Kuo frowned after hearing this. Apparently, Zhao Kuo was a little surprised by Sun Gu's arrival. Without his own summons, Sun Gu asked for a meeting on his own. It was obviously because of important matters.
Zhao Kuo silently put down the bamboo slips in his hand, gently raised the bridge of his nose, and twisted his neck, which was already a little sore from not moving for a long time, before giving the order to the eunuch: "Pass."
"Yes." The eunuch agreed immediately.
Soon, the sound of rapid footsteps sounded again. Less than ten steps away from Zhao Kuo, the voice stopped again, and a general wearing fine armor stood straight in front of Zhao Kuo, who was it not General Sun Gu of the Yulin Guard.
"I have met my king." Sun Gu's loud voice rang out in the hall with his hands clasped in fists.
"What's the matter?" Zhao Kuo asked calmly.
"Report it to my king." Sun Gu immediately replied: "There is news from Xinzheng, the capital of Han Dynasty."
After the words fell, Zhao Kuo became alert instantly.
You must know that the current battle in Luo City has entered a stalemate stage. It can be said that there is a feeling of unwillingness to give in. Small changes on either side may lead to irreversible changes in the battlefield situation.
At this time, urgent news came from Xinzheng, which still required Sun Gu to make a trip in person. Zhao Kuo had to be alert.
Seeing this, Sun Gu also immediately took out a silk book from his arms, handed it out with both hands respectfully, and continued: "News came from the Yulin Guards in Xinzheng: The Kingdom of Han may be rebelling."
As soon as these words came out, even the eunuch Ling who went to get the silk book could not help but tremble with his hands.
On the contrary, the country of Han!
Everyone knows how much impact such an ally's sudden rebellion will have on the battlefield. Outside Luo City, there are General Lian Po and more than 70,000 Zhao troops!
Although more than half of the 70,000 Zhao troops were from the Hu people, that was still the fighting strength of Zhao State!
What's more, once Han rebels, the Qin army can take a shortcut to Shangdang County after solving Luocheng. But now Shangdang County only has less than 50,000 troops!
Although Zhou Qi had been ordered to rush back to Zhi City to organize defense, there were only 20,000 troops in Zhi City. Facing the sudden attack of the Qin and Han coalition forces, no one was sure whether they could stop it.
Once Zhi City is lost, Yewang City will probably follow.
If Yewang City is lost, the Qin Army can send another force back to Kongcang Ridge and go straight to Guanglang City, and even recreate the momentum of the Bishui confrontation!
If this continues, Zhao Guo's several years of achievements, as well as the battle of Changping that Zhao Kuo fought so hard to win, will all come to naught.
Once the State of Zhao once again falls into the consumption situation of Bieshui confrontation, it will inevitably cause turmoil within the State of Zhao. The old forces that were ruthlessly suppressed by Zhao Kuo in the New Deal will be swept in. Maybe, the entire State of Zhao will also be destroyed overnight. Completely return to before "liberation".
Of course, this is just the worst-case scenario in theory.
Zhi City has already been re-divided into counties and has just begun to reinforce it. Zhou Qi personally leads an army of 20,000 to garrison it. It will not be easy for the Qin and Han coalition forces to take it away.
What's more, once the Qin and Han coalition forces become too powerful, Zhou Qi can lead his army to abandon Zicheng and concentrate all 50,000 troops into Yewang City.
Yewang City was a city that had been fortified since it was in the hands of Han Zhiguo. Even if it was compared to Handan City, it was not much different. The Qin army's plan to capture the Wild King before its own reinforcements arrived was basically wishful thinking.
There are also Kongcang Ridge and even Guanglang City. Although the number of troops stationed by the Zhao army is not large, it is not a problem to delay the attack of the Qin and Han coalition forces with a slight delay.
And Li Mu's 150,000 main army was already on its way south.
Therefore, when Zhao Kuo heard the news, although he was a little disbelieving, he was not afraid at all.
After all, we have survived such a difficult battle as the Battle of Changping. Now we need soldiers and food. Oh, yes, the food has been harvested in the autumn. Although there is some shortage, but if we want to fight a battle with more than 100,000 people, we still don’t have it. questionable.
Perhaps because he had food in hand, Zhao Kuo was not too worried about the news about Sun Gu.
Then he reached out his hand and took the silk book from the eunuch's hand.
In one glance and ten lines, Zhao Kuo quickly read the information.
"Fortresses are always dismantled from within." Zhao Kuo murmured calmly to himself after reading the silk book.
However, Zhao Kuo was still a little lucky that he had infiltrated all countries except Qin early. Although the cost was quite high, today's piece of information alone was worth the price of admission.
Otherwise, this news is too timely.
While Qin and South Korea were still arguing about protons and credentials, Zhao Kuo had more time to rearrange.
"Based on the current time, even if I report this information to various countries, the kings of various countries will probably not believe it, and they will not even bother to verify it.
Without him, Qin's reputation among Wei and Chu would have been completely bankrupt.
In their eyes, only fools would believe Qin's promise.
But, obviously, Han Zhiguo is what they call a fool. People are like this, they will never know the pain until they are slapped on the body, and they will never know how hateful a liar is until they are deceived in person.
What's more, even if Wei and Chu could believe the authenticity of the intelligence, it was already too late.
It took one night and one morning for the intelligence to reach Handan from Xinzheng. Even if the meeting was held and the kings of various countries were immediately informed of the situation, it would still take two or three days to reach Wei State. As for Chu State, the mountains are high It's a long way, and I'm afraid there won't be ten days and a half before the news arrives.
When the news reached the ears of the two kings, even though the two kings completely believed in Zhao Kuo's judgment and had no intention of verifying it, they issued instructions to their own armies in accordance with Zhao Kuo's request.
This order will be on the road for several more days.
In this way, even if the "advanced method" of flying pigeons is used to pass the message, it will probably take at least ten days to complete.
For more than ten days, Qin and South Korea had already reached a consensus, and even the decisive battle had already taken place. What was the point of changing it again?
More importantly, once Zhao Kuo shares the situation with the other two countries, it will inevitably make the Korean army feel uneasy and distrustful. This will undoubtedly accelerate the disintegration of the coalition forces.
If the other two countries are not informed, it will of course cause losses in the eyes of the troops of the two countries, but what does this have to do with Zhao Guo and Zhao Kuo? Being able to use the Qin army to consume the strength of Wei and Chu is exactly what Zhao Kuo wanted to do but couldn't do it for the time being!
Therefore, Zhao Kuo knew at the first moment that this news must be kept strictly confidential. And since it must be kept secret, it is almost impossible to turn defeat into victory.
Therefore, the countermeasure Zhao Kuo wants now is not how to turn defeat into victory, but to reduce Zhao Jun's losses as much as possible under Zhao Kuo's leadership. It would be better if he could give Qin Jun a hard blow. .
The good news is that there are at least three to five days left for Zhao Jun to make changes.
The bad news is that Li Mu's army has just finished resting and has not had time to go south. Even if there is five days, it is still not enough for Li Mu's army to go south and reach the battlefield.
His fingers gently touched the desk, and Zhao Kuo's mind was thinking crazily.
It is certain that Li Mu's troops will go south. At least Shangdang County cannot be lost, and if Li Mu wants to hold Shangdang County, his troops must go south.
The question is, should Li Mu's troops be allowed to gallop down in batches, or should they be allowed to slowly move south along the established march route?
Galloping down, it is true that about 50,000 cavalry may arrive on the battlefield in a short time and join the battle, but it is obvious that 50,000 cavalry cannot change the situation of the battlefield.
If we follow the established route and head south slowly, the total journey will probably take about twelve days.
Qin and South Korea must have completed the deal, and the war must have begun!
In fact, Qin's troops are approaching their own city of Zhe, and it is possible that the battle to defend Zhe City has already begun!
Then fight!
A plan gradually emerged in Zhao Kuo's mind.
Finally, Zhao Kuo, who had been thinking for a long time, raised his head.
"Record." Zhao Kuo said calmly.
The eunuch Ling on the side quickly picked up the bamboo slips and started recording.
"First, immediately send a letter by flying pigeon to inform General Lian Po on the front line about the peace between Qin and Han. Tell General Lian Po to do two things: first, keep it secret and do not spread this news to Chu and Wei. In order to prevent the alliance from collapsing faster; secondly, be secretly prepared to retreat and hold on. After the Yan army rebels, do not think about rescue or entanglement with the Qin army. Immediately retreat to Zhi City, hold on to Zhi City, and Try to delay the Qin army as much as possible."
Zhao Kuo looked at the eunuch order in Fenbi Ji's book, paused for a moment, and then continued: "Second, Fei Ge sent an order to Li Mu to lead his main force of 150,000 to go south immediately and follow the established route. , rushed to Shangdang County. Note that after entering the county, change the route to the west, enter Guanglang City, cross the Kongcang Ridge, attack the areas east of Qinhe and Hexi, and go straight to Hangu Pass. Later, one force pretended to attack Hangu Pass, and the other The troops passed through the Weihan Passage, captured Luo City, took the Qin army's grain and fodder, and cut off the Qin army's return route."
As soon as he finished speaking, the eunuch's writing hand became a little excited. Although he didn't quite understand the king's plan, he still knew the meaning of the words "cut off the Qin army's return path"!
Your Majesty wants to keep all the more than 200,000 Qin troops in Zicheng!
It was still gloomy and gloomy just now, but in the blink of an eye the rain has stopped and the sky has cleared up! Even, the king wants to fight back!
Where is the logic in this? This is the king, the most successful general! The eunuch ordered him to record and worship at the same time.
Sun Gu on the side was also extremely surprised: Can the battle still be fought like this? !
If this really comes true, the Qin Army will no longer be a match for our Zhao Army...
Some people died, but not completely...
