Just when the King of Qin made up his mind and wanted Wang Lu to issue an order to return to Hangu, the Zhao army led by Sun Gu also arrived at Hangu City.
Taking advantage of the busy period at the Hangu juncture, Sun Gu launched an attack brazenly.
Of course, the result was that both sides suffered heavy casualties, and Zhao Jun also regretfully left the field.
However, this is obviously the result that Sun Gu wants - if he doesn't put enough pressure on Hangu Pass, how can he get the old fox Wang Lu back.
Sure enough, after being severely beaten by Zhao Jun, the guard at Hangu Pass did not have time to carefully check how many Zhao troops were outside the city, and immediately appealed to Xianyang again, asking for more troops.
The King of Qin naturally sent a messenger, asking Wang Lu to retreat immediately after receiving the letter.
At this time, Li Mu's troops, who had quietly crossed the Weihan Passage, finally let go of their horses and galloped wantonly on the homeland of Zhou Wangji.
And their goal is only one - Los Angeles.
Fortunately, due to several months of confrontation and the burning of farmland by the coalition forces, the land of Zhou Wangji was empty, and most of the government offices in various places existed in name only. The Qin State wanted to continue to rely on these "fertile vacancies" to make money. , the people and officials have never sent it.
This made Li Mu extremely happy!
Hundreds of thousands of troops appeared on the plains of Zhou Wangji and advanced towards Luo City with almost no cover.
Even under such circumstances, during the whole day's march, neither the defenders in Luo City nor Wang Lu outside Zhi City heard a single sound.
Therefore, the fall of Luo City was a matter of course.
After all, in Luo City, the Qin army only had 3,000 troops, while the Zhao army had 130,000 troops, which was more than 40 times more powerful! In addition, the four gates of Luo City are so wide that three thousand people cannot defend them!
But it has to be said that the Qin Army's combat power and willpower are indeed unparalleled. Even under such circumstances, the Qin Army still persisted for nearly two hours.
However, the main force of the Qin army was far away in Zhi City and could not be rushed back in two hours.
What's more fortunate is that although the Qin army's stubborn resistance was fierce, they seemed to value the grain more seriously than Zhao Jun imagined. Until the last moment, the Qin army's generals still did not order the burning of the grain.
But by the time it was about to be burned, it was already too late.
Nearly half of the food was retained by the Zhao army, and this food was enough for Li Mu and more than 100,000 Zhao soldiers to persist in Luo City for more than a month.
Coincidentally, these two pieces of bad news reached Wang Lu at the same time.
Looking at the military report and the king's order in front of him, Wang Hao almost fainted and fell to the ground.
One moment, he was clearly thinking about stepping up the offensive tomorrow and taking over the city of Zhi as soon as possible, but the next moment, he was worried about his fate.
Fortunately, Wang Lu remained awake at the critical moment.
Immediately, an order was sent to the commanders of all armies, and Pi came to discuss matters with the central army.
...
Outside Zhi City, on a plain, simple and neat military camps were displayed. Due to the light control, the huge military camp was completely dark with almost no light.
But among the rows of tents, there was complete silence. If it weren't for the occasional snoring and footsteps patrolling the camp, one would have thought it was a "dead" camp.
You know, this is a camp with 200,000 troops!
Not all military camps can have such a peaceful night. Without iron discipline, even a military camp with only a few thousand people may not be able to achieve such silence.
In the center of the huge military camp, the largest tent was located. It was also one of the few tents with lights on.
Outside the big tent, hundreds of soldiers holding halberds and wearing fine armor surrounded it tightly. The doors and windows were also sealed tightly with thick felt cloth. There is a trace of light on the ground.
Compared to the darkness and silence in the military camp, there was a brightly lit and lively scene inside the Chinese military tent.
Several Qin
The generals of the army were sitting around the map. The leader had slightly white hair and beard, and heavy bags under his eyes hung on his tired face. Only the murderous look in his sharp eyes silently declared his ability and status - —It is none other than Qin’s current general, Wang Lu!
"What's the situation at Hangu Pass? How powerful is Zhao's army?" Bai Qi asked first.
"Reporting to the general: There is still a fierce battle at Hangu Pass! The Zhao army's strength may not be less than one hundred thousand!" The scout captain who knelt on one knee in front of Wang Lu immediately replied.
Then, he seemed to feel that there was still some shortcomings, and immediately added: "Guan Guan has asked the king for help several times."
The words of the scout captain were already obvious: General, lead your troops back quickly for reinforcements.
However, as a scout, all he had to do and could do was to inform the general about the situation on the battlefield. As for the general's decision, it was not something he, a mere captain, could suggest.
Naturally, the scout captain did not say the last half of his sentence.
But Wang Lu didn't know what he meant? Not only the scout captain in front of him, but also all the Qin army generals including himself, when they heard that Hangu was attacked, they wanted to immediately withdraw their troops and return reinforcements!
Although Zhi City was already in danger under the attack of the Qin army, compared with Hangu Pass, Zhi City was simply not worth mentioning.
Of course, if it was just Han Gu who was in a hurry, Wang Lu wouldn't have to frown at all.
No matter how the Zhao army appeared in front of Hangu Pass, or how many troops the Zhao army had in front of Hangu Pass, as long as he sent tens of thousands of troops back to Hangu, the majesty of Hangu Pass would be enough to last long enough. There is enough time for his main force to capture Zhi City, or for the reinforcements from Shu to arrive at Hangu.
But the news that followed made Wang Hao, the commander-in-chief of the Qin Army, have to calm down and think.
Without him, the most important city on the Qin army's retreat - Luo City - was lost!
Luocheng, the former capital of the Zhou Dynasty. Now it is also the most important transfer station for grain and ordnance in the rear of the Qin army. Its loss can be said to have a far-reaching impact.
There is no need to say more about the impact on the Qin army's military morale and combat effectiveness.
More importantly, Luocheng is like a pass on the way out of the Qin army to the east. Once occupied by the Zhao army, the entire eastward plan will be in vain.
It is impossible for the Qin army to occupy other cities in Zhou Wangji without occupying Luo City.
Even if the Qin army spent great efforts and stationed a large number of troops in all the cities of Zhou Wangji, it would not work at all. Without the center of Luo City, even transporting food would be a problem for other cities.
However, the Zhao army could set out from Luocheng and attack any city where the Qin army was stationed.
By that time, the entire Zhou Wangji will become a piece of meat in Zhao Guo's mouth.
For the safety of the army, the Qin army had no choice but to withdraw from Zhou Wangji, return to the Hedong area, and hand over the territory of Zhou Wangji that it had finally conquered to Zhao. .
The only way to break the situation is to take advantage of Zhao Jun's unstable foothold and immediately lead his army to counterattack.
But at this moment, Hangu Pass was also in danger.
This obviously makes the already confusing situation even more dangerous.
After taking a long breath, Wang Hao waved his hand to signal the scout captain to stand up, and then turned to another general.
Compared with the scout captain who had just arrived from Xianyang in a dusty journey, this general looked even more embarrassed. His face was not only covered with dust, but several arrow marks were clearly visible, and his armor was even covered with blood. Obviously, this general had experienced a tragic fight not long ago.
Yes, this is the Qin Army Colonel who stayed in Luo City. It was his arrival that forced Wang Lu to think deeply.
It would be a lie to say that you are not angry. After all, Luo City is such an important place. You lost it to me in less than two hours?
But Wang Hao also knew very well that the captain guarding Luo City was really not to blame for this matter. If he was to blame, he could only blame his own carelessness. After all, he only left him three thousand troops. Facing Zhao Jun's sudden attack, being able to hold on for two hours was considered his best effort.
What's more, now
This is not the time to hold people accountable.
"How many troops did the Zhao army attack Luo City have?" Wang Hao asked again with a frown.
"Report to the general: The Zhao army launched an attack on three city walls at the same time. The number of troops participating in the siege under each wall was 10,000, and the strength of the following Chinese army was only a lot more. If the army at the rear is included, its strength is equivalent More than 80,000." The disgraced captain carefully said his answer.
Hearing this, Wang Hao's brows couldn't help but frown deeper.
There is no way, Wang Hao really can't figure out where the Zhao army came from with so many troops - the Zhao army at Hangu Pass has no less than 100,000 troops, and the Zhao army here in Luocheng also has more than 80,000 troops. A rough calculation. There are already 180,000. Could it be that Zhao State has invested all its troops here?
It seems that it is not impossible!
But even if there are so many troops in the Zhao Kingdom, the rewards from Black Ice Platform are coming day by day. There are no troops in Hejian County, Zhongshan County, and Handan County. The only ones that may be out of sight are those far away in the grassland. The army on.
But the army was only a hundred thousand! (It turned out that the total strength was 150,000. At the beginning of the war, a large army went south for reinforcements. The Qin army scouts did not know that the Zhao army had recruited barbarians from the grasslands into the army, so they misjudged the strength of the troops)
Where did the remaining 80,000 come from? !
If you don't think clearly about this, the next decision will be even more difficult to make.
If Luo City is not lost, I can ask Meng Ao to lead 70,000 cavalry to Hangu to relieve the siege, and I can continue to besiege Zhi City with the remaining 100,000 infantry.
But now that Luo City is lost, of course he can still let Meng Ao lead his cavalry around Zicheng to Hangu to relieve the siege. However, his hundreds of thousands of infantry are not besieging Zicheng, but are being attacked from both sides by the Zhao army. The danger!
Therefore, there were only two ways in front of Wang Lu, either to immediately lead the army to recapture Zhi City, or to retreat with the entire army. It is absolutely impossible to divide the troops.
This is why Wang Lu is eager to know how many people Zhao Jun has.
If the Zhao army in Hangu does not have many troops, even if he is disobeying the king's order, he will have to capture Zhi City first.
After all, the king still doesn’t know the news about the loss of Luo City, nor does he know that once the army returns to help, not only will the opportunity to open the gate of Zhao be lost, but also the land of Zhou Wangji where they have been fighting fiercely for several months.
Wang Lu's plan was also very simple. He would allocate part of his troops to contain the Zhao army in Luocheng, and the main force would continue to attack Zhicheng at all costs. Once Zhi City is taken, Zhao Jun in Hanoi will be completely locked up by himself, and Zhao Jun hiding in Luo City will become a turtle in the urn.
However, Hangu reported three times a day urgently asking for help and the nearly 100,000 Zhao troops had obviously blocked this road.
If there are not many Zhao troops in Luo City, he can send cavalry back to assist while counterattacking Luo City with the main force.
As long as Luo City is taken back, the advantage of attacking Zhi City will be lost. At least the land of Zhou Wangji will be firmly in his hands.
It is a pity that the 80,000 Zhao army in Luocheng has blocked this road again - in a short period of time, he will not be able to break through Luocheng with more than 100,000 troops. Moreover, the Zhao army in Zhecheng is not a vegetarian. .
Seeing the king's order to withdraw the troops, Wang Lu, who had just come off the battlefield, fell into a painful struggle.
Somehow, Wang Hao still felt that one of the two Zhao armies must be feinting. Wang Hao was even at least 70% sure that the Zhao army attacking Hangu Pass was the Zhao army feinting.
However, facing the king's orders and the rewards from the scouts, would Wang Hao dare to take a gamble?
Even if he takes ten thousand steps back, Wang Lu can conclude with 100% certainty that the Zhao army attacking Hangu Pass is fake, and they are simply unable to break through Hangu Pass.
But in this way, can Wang Lu not withdraw his troops?
You must know that Luocheng is already in the hands of Zhao Jun. Even if he has the advantage of military strength, with Zhao Jun's 80,000 troops, it is simply impossible for him to break the city in a short time.
But the army that lost Luo City only had less than fifteen days' worth of food.
If you want to transport grain from the rear, write to
The Zhao army outside Guguan will certainly not allow the grain to be shipped out smoothly.
In other words, regardless of whether the Zhao army feinted to attack Hangu or not, from the moment the emergency report came out from Hangu Pass, from the moment Luocheng fell one after another, Wang Lu and his army had no choice!
However, Luocheng and Zhou Wangji, which were finally captured after months of hard work and tens of thousands of soldiers, were used as Zhao's wedding clothes in this way, which really made Wang Lu anxious.
What's the use of being angry and regretting?
If the crisis at Hangu Pass was still beyond Wang Lu's ability, then the loss of Luo City was entirely caused by Wang Lu's carelessness.
But who would have thought that Zhao Jun would appear behind him?
There was no point in thinking about anything else. Wang Hao sighed softly and then re-deployed his army.
