"Send the order, the troops will be divided into three squads, and they will take turns to attack. Make sure that Zhi City is under attack at all times." Looking at the stalemate battle in front of him, Wang Hao gave the order decisively.
"Yes." The messenger next to him immediately agreed.
In fact, from the beginning, Wang Hao knew that this battle was not easy to fight, and it was expected that Wang Hao would be dragged into a war of attrition. Otherwise, Wang Hao would not have prepared so many siege equipment.
Isn't it just to compete with Zhao Jun?
Of course, the prerequisite for such a war of attrition is that Zhao Jun's reinforcements will not arrive.
"Send the order, order the Black Ice Platform and the scouts in the party's territory to pay close attention to the movements of the Zhao army. Once a large number of Zhao army movements are discovered, the news must be conveyed as soon as possible." Wang Hao continued to order.
"Yes." Another messenger next to him also immediately agreed.
Obviously, Wang Lu was also very wary of Zhao Jun's reinforcements, so he was naturally prepared.
However, the direction Wang Lu had prepared was deviated. But this is no wonder Wang Lu. Even if he were killed, he would not have thought that Zhao Kuo would have such great ambition and courage.
With an army of more than 100,000 people, they traveled thousands of miles and still passed through the land of Qin. This has almost never happened in previous battles.
Even in the Battle of Changping, Bai Qi only sent out 25,000 troops to bypass the old pass. The distance traveled was less than a hundred miles, and most of the journey was still in the areas controlled by the Qin army and A deserted area.
Even so, Bai Qi was cautious.
In this Warring States period where even a small trip to a distant place requires "testing" and "passing", such a bypassing tactic is simply costing lives.
Once discovered by the enemy, it will inevitably fall into a heavy siege. It does not even require too much contact battle, it only needs to be firmly trapped. It will not take long for the army behind it to collapse on its own.
Fortunately, Qin's extremely strict household registration system made Zhao Jun's behavior slightly more likely.
Because of its strictness, the Qin State had very little movement among the people unless it was a government-sponsored corvee service. This led to the fact that in the areas close to the enemy in Hexi and Hedong, many mountain and forest roads were deserted.
This is undoubtedly the best guarantee for Zhao Jun's detour.
However, even so, Zhao Jun's move was very risky. It is precisely because it is adventurous enough that everyone is unexpected.
However, this march was also an extremely severe test for General Li Mu.
In any case, while the Qin and Zhao armies were fighting day and night in Zicheng, Li Mu finally led an army of more than 100,000 across the vast land east of the Hedong, and beyond that was the land west of the Qin State.
If in Hedong, the Zhao army could still rely on the barren mountains and ridges to avoid the sight of the Qin army, then after entering Hedong, it would be almost impossible to hide the army.
The reason is very simple. It was once the homeland of the Qin State. In order to move eastwards, the Qin kings of all dynasties sown too many seeds in Hexi. It can be said that apart from Xianyang and other central areas, Hexi is the most heavily fortified by the Qin army. area.
Even Shang Yang could not get out of this area back then, let alone Zhao Jun today.
Now that exposure was inevitable, Li Mu naturally began to change his strategy. More importantly, according to Zhao Kuo's arrangement, after passing through the Hedong area, it was time to divide the troops!
Yes, divide the troops!
All the way to the west, they pretended to attack Han Valley, and all the way to the east, they invaded Luo City.
"General Sun, you and I should go our separate ways." Li Mu, who was riding on a tall horse, said to General Sun Gu on the side.
Sun Gu, who was already General Yulinwei, should not have led troops in battle anymore, but now that Zhou Qi, Zhao Wei and others were no longer around, the only one Li Mu could use was General Sun.
Of course, in fact, this can be accomplished even by sending one general.
After all, the army heading west was just a feint attack. As long as they show their faces in front of Hangu Pass, they don't even need to wait for the Qin army to withdraw. The army can retreat immediately. There is no need to tangle with the Qin army at all, and naturally there is no danger.
It can be said that as long as the generals leading the team don't get too excited and want to capture Hangu Pass, it will almost be a trip to gain merit.
The reason why Li Mu handed over such a mission to Sun Gu was not only to reassure Sun Gu, but also to compensate and reward Sun Gu for leading the way.
If it weren't for Sun Gu's Yulin Guards opening the way, even with Li Mu's ability, it would be difficult to bring these more than 100,000 troops to the Qin people's noses without being discovered.
Hearing this, Sun Gu certainly understood Li Mu's intention, and he himself was overjoyed.
What general doesn't love the battlefield?
Although Sun Gu has been transferred to intelligence work, he has done a good job, but the thought of being able to rein in Ma Hangu Pass still makes Sun Gu feel excited. What's more, defeat the Qin army! It is simply what every Zhao *** person dreams of.
"How dare you disobey your order?" Sun Gu immediately accepted the order.
"With your 20,000 elite cavalry." Li Mu spoke again and said: "After entering the Hexi area, you must move quickly. Within four days, you must penetrate to the Hangu Pass and maintain a huge momentum, causing The illusion that our army is about to seize the pass. Then, regardless of whether the Qin army of Zhou Wangji is transferred back, once the Qin army increases its troops in Hangu, it will quickly withdraw eastward and return to the land of Shangdang. In a word, the action must be fast and violent, come and go. Like the wind."
"Yes, I will obey the general's order!" Sun Gu took the order again.
Immediately, the two parted ways in the mountains. Sun Gu led 20,000 cavalry all the way west and rushed straight to Hangu Pass, while Li Mu led his troops and horses all the way east, aiming directly at Luocheng.
Although today's march no longer needs to worry about being discovered by the Qin people, the difficulty of marching has not decreased at all.
The most important and difficult thing among them is not the marching route or the marching food and fodder, but the coordination of time.
To be precise, it was the time coordination between the eastern and western armies.
Because in essence, the Zhao army did not really go there to fight the Qin army, but to intimidate the Qin army to retreat.
At this time of the decisive battle, although the Zhao army had a certain geographical advantage by bypassing the rear, the terrain under Zhi City could not complete the encirclement of the Qin army.
Therefore, it is very likely that even if it can inflict a certain blow on the Qin army, it will not be fatal. In this way, the Qin army is bound to continue to increase its troops, and a complete confrontation between the two armies in the land of Zhou Wangji will be the most likely outcome.
This result was not what Zhao Kuo wanted.
What Zhao Kuo wanted was to end the war and reduce the Qin army's results, but he did not want to involve himself.
The simple reason is that to solve the Qin State now, the price to pay is too high, and there are too many uncontrollable factors. Therefore, the best way is to scare the Qin army back.
How to scare him back?
The best thing is that Xianyang was attacked and the King of Qin was in danger.
Of course, for the time being, the Zhao army does not have the ability to attack Xianyang, so it can only do the next best thing and station itself outside the Mahangu Pass to deter the Qin army.
In this way, the King of Qin will inevitably increase his troops at Hangu Pass and will also notify Wang Lu on the front line.
However, with the wisdom of King Qin and Wang Lu's cunning, he would not necessarily withdraw his troops just because Hangu was attacked.
But what if Wang Lu found that his food route was cut off at this time?
Yes, if at this time, Wang Lu, who had just received the attack on Hangu, suddenly received the news that Luo City had been captured by the Zhao army, what do you think he would think?
It is very likely that Wang Lu will suddenly realize that the main force of Zhao Jun has moved south. When the strength of the Zhao army was unclear, Wang Hao would most likely judge that the Zhao army's intention was to trap him and then open Hangu Pass.
Yes, Wang Hui believed that Li Mu's troops who cut off his retreat were just a partial force, the purpose was to attract him to fight with them, and that the army attacking Hangu was the real main force.
Based on this judgment, Wang Lu did not dare and would not continue to entangle in Zhou Wangji, and would immediately lead the army back to Hangu Pass. As long as the Qin army returns to the Weihan Passage, it will be difficult to come out again.
Of course, this series of plans is not that easy.
The Western Route Army led by Sun Gu was not bad. As long as it could rely on the speed of its horses to quickly pass through Hangu Pass, it would be enough.
More than half successful.
But the Eastern Route Army on Li Mu's side is obviously much more difficult.
It can be said that it can neither be fast nor slow.
Soon, if they arrive in Luocheng before the news of Hangu Pass comes, it is very likely that they will have a big battle with the Qin army first. In this way, the Qin army will not be able to retreat even if it wants to.
It's slow, let alone that.
First of all, the Weihan Passage is extremely dangerous. If it cannot be passed quickly, it is very likely that the Qin army will block the gap. In this way, with a blockade in front and Qin behind, not only would the king be unable to complete his mission of forcing the Qin army back, but he would even be in danger.
Secondly, if Luo City cannot be captured in time, the Qin army can advance, attack, retreat or defend, and the land of Zhou Wangji will inevitably fall into the hands of the Qin army. In that case, Li Mu's thousands-mile attack will be meaningless.
There is no need to rush or change, this is only the overall time requirement.
Specifically, you should go slowly before entering the Weihan channel to cover up others' eyes and ears as much as possible and reduce the possibility of yourself being exposed;.
After entering the Weihan Passage, you must move quickly to ensure that the army can pass through this ghost gate safely and quickly;
After passing through, the army had to slow down again to wait for the message from Hangu Pass;
As for approaching Luocheng, the army's attack must be fierce and rapid, without giving the Qin army any chance to react.
It can be said that this period of speed and slowness reflects the general's grasp of timing and control of the army.
Fortunately, Li Mu is good at this.
After the separation, the east-route army, under the leadership of Li Mu, continued to move forward arduously in the deep mountains and old forests.
On the other hand, the Western Route Army led by Sun Gu was like a wild horse running free, unleashing the depression of the past few days on the land of Hexi.
A bunch of red Zhao Jun flags have been erected, and in the cold wind of late autumn, they are like flames burning wantonly on the land of Qin.
Such a large-scale and unscrupulous march naturally attracted the Qin people's attention!
"Is that the victory of our Qin army?"
Listening to the thunderous sound of horse hooves, the people of Qin seemed to have become accustomed to it, and everyone looked forward to seeing their relatives in the black line in the distance.
Unfortunately, as the black line became thicker and thicker, the black gradually turned into blood red!
Only then did the people of Qin realize that something was wrong, and they all shouted: Enemy attack!
Even the Qin people's first reaction when facing unknown armored soldiers was still panic.
After all, enemy attack!
What a distant and unfamiliar name it is!
After decades, cavalry from other countries finally set foot on the territory of Qin...
